The Bird And The Bones
by FallenAngelLove
Summary: Emma Avery had been friends with Jim and Bones since Bones threw up on the shuttle. Bones/OC. Hopefully, better than it sounds. Read it and check it out, coz we all love Bones just that much . T for language and... uhh... well, you know ;D
1. Chapter 1

_A/N. This is something I've been working on for a while... and I think its the best writing I've done... like ever. Which isnt saying much about my skillz, but, none the less, whatever. Anyway, yeah, the title comes from the "Birds and the bees" - I LOVE that discussion. Its funny :) Anyway, reveiws are love, so is Karl Urban (L) -give me a piece of that man-flesh ANYDAY. More reveiws mean Bones gets more naked :)_

_Disclaimer: I dont own star trek, If i did, Karl Urban would have spent most of the film shirtless._

Emma could barely contain her excitement; even in the annoyingly short cadet uniform. A few metres in front of her, she saw a guy jump off a motor bike and throw something to one of the workers, before he talked briefly to Pike. She was still a few feet behind him, stripping off her high heels as she went, they weren't that important so she could leave them here… actually, they weren't even hers', so it was OK to leave them here. Pike saw her approaching, her boots in hand and the high heels in the middle of the pathway, a few feet behind the bike, and rolled his eyes.

"You're a little late, cadet, and you're in the wrong uniform. You're also going to have to fix your hair" He told her, his voice only betraying a slight hint of humour. She smiled cheekily before nodding her head.

"Chris, you know where I got _those _genes from" Technically, he wasn't family, but he was the closest thing she could get to an Uncle without him actually being a blood relative. She glanced up to her hair, before remembering what it currently looked like.

"It's Captain Pike, cadet. I'm not going to help you out from here on in. Now hurry up and get in, before we take off" She hurried on, jumping into one boot and stepping onto the shuttle. She turned to him and poked her tongue out before scampering off to find a seat. She headed to the second cabin and stood back while a handsome man fought with a flight officer.

"I suffer from aviophobia - it means fear of dying in something that flies!" he told her, his southern accent making Emma smile.

"Sir, for your own safety, sit down, or else I'll make you sit down!" the shorter woman told him, her expression stern. Reluctantly, he nodded and sat down, "Thankyou" she snapped, before walking away. Pike made his announcement _'this is captain Pike, cleared for takeoff'_. Emma quickly took the only seat available; the one in front of the man who had now turned to the guy with the bike.

"I may throw up on you" he told him, putting on his safety belt; Emma copied his actions.

"I think these things are pretty safe" the cute blonde next to him told him, looking slightly…confused?

"Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in _thirteen seconds_. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our _seats_. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're so relaxed when your _eyeballs_ are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in _darkness_ and _silence_" he lectured as he finished his belt and Emma sniffed a little… was that whiskey? Or scotch? Or… the other one?

"Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space" The blonde told him, looking slightly fed up, before his attention was caught by the flask the handsome, dark haired man had pulled out.

"Yeah, well, I got nowhere else to go; the ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my **bones**" Why were men who could raise an eyebrow just _that_ much sexier? Emma wondered this as the blonde looked unsure as to whether to smile or frown… or look even more confused; his eyes following the flask until the other man offered it to him and he accepted with a slight nod.

"Jim Kirk" the blonde told the man, holding the flask up for a mere second and taking a drink.

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy" who was he? James Bond? Emma doubted he had even seen the movies, but still. Jim offered him back the flask as the shuttle started to shake. Kirk smiled slightly before looking to her and smirking slightly.

"And _you_ are?" His voice went silky smooth in a matter of second, and Emma heard a feminine grunt from the girl two seats down. McCoy looked over to her as well, his eyes taking in all of her and finally resting on her eyes, before flicking back up to her hair and flicking down again. She reached up to pat it, grinning.

"Emma Avery," she pointed to her hair before continuing, "I got bored and found myself some fun" She grinned at McCoy who smiled warily back. Her hair, which was jet black, was a few inches longer than Jim's with electric blue streaks through it. The shuttle lifted off.

"You sound just like my kind of girl" Jim told her and the girl two seats down leaned forward to look at her.

"Don't listen to him; he's a hick from town. _Total_ sleaze" Emma threw her head back and laughed throatily.

"Uhura, jealous that I've moved on from you? The offer still stands" Jim told her and McCoy looked from him to the shuttle before settling back on Emma; in the background, Uhura gagged and threw Jim the bird.

"Where you from? Why'd you join Starfleet?" He asked, trying to distract himself and also slightly curious as to how the obvious party girl had gotten roped into something like this. She grinned wickedly; never a good sign.

"I'm from all over, everywhere, Australia, Egypt, America, Greece. I didn't really settle for the past few years. I joined star fleet when I lost a bet," Leonard raised an eyebrow so she continued, "I bet my best friend that I could pick up a guy at a bar in… where was it... Oh, right Paris. Yeah, she won" Jim raised an eyebrow, now paying attention.

"What? A guy actually _refused_ you?" He asked, incredulous and disbelieving; Emma took it as a compliment.

"I get the feeling that if it has the right anatomy and is good looking enough, you'll take it home? Anyway, yeah, this guy I was trying to pick up was gay. And even in my shortest black dress, my hair looking somewhat normal and a plunging neck like, I couldn't get him to turn straight. Not even for some innocent sex. His boyfriend laughed at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He's now a good friend of mine actually" She had talked long enough to distract Leonard and he was looking a little bit more relaxed now. Jim grinned at her.

"I get the feeling we're going to get along" he told both her and Leonard; Leonard seemed disinclined to agree, but shrugged at him before looking to her, rolling his eyes when she grinned and nodded.

"As long as you don't try to get me into your bed, I'm fine with that" she pointed to Jim, who grinned before noticing she spoke directly to him.

"Wait, does that mean he can?" He pointed his thumb in Leonard's direction and she sent them both a wicked smile.

"Jim, Southern men have morals. I have a feeling Leonard and I are going to get along very well. Not that I intend to sleep with him, but who knows" She grinned before winking at Leo.

"Oh, this is going to be fun, Bones, this is going to be fun" Jim told McCoy before noticing that he looked kind of pale.

"You know what I said before? Yeah, get ready" Bones told him, just before he heaved.

* * *

Bones, Jim and Emma shuffled off the shuttle and onto the academy grounds, Jim trying not to look at Bones, or Emma. Emma told Jim to go get their room information while she sat Bones down on a seat underneath a tree. She could easily ignore the vomit on his shirt (and the little bits on her shoes) and was worried about the paleness of his face, making sure that he was breathing properly and asking a cadet for her bottle of water; one look at Bones and the poor cadet gave it to her, before scampering off to what must have been the bathroom, heaving. She unscrewed the lid and held it out to him.

"C'mon McCoy, drink this, it should help" she watched as he took a mouthful from the bottle, spitting it out onto the lawn and then taking a few more, which he swallowed.

"I don't need a babysitter you know" he told her roughly, trying to cover up his embarrassment by growling; she sighed.

"Trust me; this isn't as bad as standing up in the middle of shuttle in barely any clothing and throwing up over one of the flight officers before passing out. I've been there, done that. No one will remember and if they do just stick them with a hydrospray, you sound as if you're fond of them" he looked up at her and saw her smiling slightly down at him before she shrugged. He sighed before looking around the campus; he shouldn't be looking at another woman this soon after the divorce. And this one, this one was _dangerous_; he could feel it in his bones. Jim was walking back toward them, grinning at them both.

"Guess what, Bones?" He asked him as he stopped at the spot under the tree, "We're going to be roomies" Bones groaned and looked at Emma, who shrugged in a what-can-you-do way before grinning.

"Alrighty boys, I have to go get my quarters and check out some stuff. I'll see you around?" She asked, trying to make it sound light, but Bones could hear the worry underneath it all; worry about what, he wasn't sure. Yet.

"Sure thing, sweetheart" Jim told her before lifting Bones up and supporting him with an arm and dragging him off. Emma shook her head at their retreating forms before heading off to find out where her dorms were.

* * *

By the end of the week, Emma was nearly a wreck. By day three, Pike had ordered her off campus during a lesson to get her hair stripped of its unnatural colours and had told her to start wearing the correct shoes at all times. By day five, Pike had confiscated all of her shoes, except her uniform boots, and if she wanted them she had to go see him. So, when Saturday finally rolled around, she couldn't have been more excited about dragging Jim and Bones out. She found them at in the dining hall and quickly grabbed her breakfast before sitting down next to Bones and across from Jim.

"We are going out tonight, my friends. I won't take no for an answer" Jim looked up at her, grinning, while Bones just took another mouthful of coffee.

"I can't, I'm on shift tonight in the infirmary" Bones told her, without looking up from his data-pad, and she sighed, looking to Jim.

"I have a date with a leggy blonde who is most likely easy" Emma sighed again. She glared and was smelt Bones's coffee, which he had placed on the table not a second ago, and made a face before taking a deep swig of her hot chocolate and sighing again.

"Ugh, you both suck. Looks like I'm staying in tonight" Jim raised an eyebrow at her.

"What happened to not taking 'no' for an answer?" He asked, amusement thick in his voice. She glared, about to respond when she was interrupted.

"Hey, just because you don't have anyone to spend it with, doesn't mean you can't hit the town and get yourself a piece of hot man-flesh" Gaila told her as she sat next to Jim. Bones looked slightly perturbed at the word 'man-flesh' but decided not to say anything.

"But it's no fun if I can't have a drinking partner" She pouted, trying to look innocent.

"Hey, if you're going out alone, it just means you can wear as little as you want. Besides, what about your roommate?" Gaila sipped at her coffee, raising an eyebrow to Emma.

"Ugh, no way in hell will I even force her company on me if it isn't necessary; She's a bitch" Emma made a gagging noise; Jim grinned.

"Still having trouble with little Miss professor seducer?" he asked; Emma nodded in response.

"Well, I got a few things to do before I get ready and see Pike so I can get my shoes back. I still can't believe he took them" Emma grumbled before standing up; Bones looked up to her with a raised eyebrow. She tried to stop her knees from wobbling.

"Really? I can't believe he didn't burn them. You _were_ warned that you shouldn't wear them" He chuckled as she glared at him, hitting him upside the head lightly.

"And now I'm warning you," she leant down so that her lips were just beside his ear, "if he burns my shoes, I'm going to come after you with several pointy objects for giving destiny the idea" He shuddered and she grinned, lightly brushing her lips to his cheek and messing up his hair; he growled as she walked away.

"I can't believe you two. Why don't you just screw each other and get it over with?" Jim asked him and Gaila nodded eagerly with a small smile.

"It's harmless flirting, Jim. We're just friends, there is no need to ruin a perfectly good _friendship_ by what is meant to be an innocent one night stand that ends up making everything awkward," He growled at them, before standing up, "besides, she isn't interested in anything like that. So even if I were, _which I'm not_, it wouldn't happen anyway" He huffed as he walked off to dispose of his tray and empty coffee cup.

Jim gave Gaila a look that she understood within seconds and nodded in response, rolling her eyes for added effect.

Those two were never going to get together, even though Emma was the perfect coolant to Leo's temper and Bones was the perfect excuse for Emma to loosen up and lose some of that self doubt that they had all noticed and said nothing of. They were like pieces of a magnetic puzzle that just wouldnt fit into place unless the other gave in.

* * *

Bones was getting annoyed. He hated working night shift, especially when it was as boring as this and he was the only person in the infirmary. He paced lightly, biting into the sandwich that the last nurse to leave had left for him.

Another few minutes passed and he sat down, closing his eyes for a few seconds before picking up a book. He threw it back down not three minutes later. The door slid open and he shot out of his seat, going to meet whoever it was; he ignored the icy feeling that shot down him when he saw that Emma was being carried in by Pike (women like her were, after all, dangerous).

"What happened?" He asked, already guiding Pike to a bio-bed and pulling out his tri-corder.

"She had a migraine, she gets them from her mother and her grandmother. She told me before she passed out to bring her here and for you to give her your best pain killers. She's going to need a private room" Bones raised an eyebrow, but guided him to the intensive care room and opened the door, showing Pike through to the bed.

Emma was dress in a mini skirt and a tank top, still barefoot. Bones ignored the lack of clothing and stepped closer to the bed when she started to stir. She groaned before opening her eyes, looking frantic and pale.

"Bones," she croaked, holding a hand to her head, "get me a bucket, and pain killers. No sedatives. Silent room" Bones nodded and Pike followed him out.

"I am leaving her in your care, you'll be fine, McCoy" He walked out the door, only looking back for a slight second. Bones grabbed the strongest pain killer he could use without sedating her. He grabbed a bucket on the way back into her room. He gently gave her the hydro spray shot, she didn't wince and pointed to the bucket and then to the area on the floor next to the bed.

"I'm... going to... pass out in a... few moments. Can... you stay here? It'll... help me... sleep... calm me... down... stop the... pain," she chuckled before giving in to another moan, "well... it'll help... the bite a... little" She mumbled, taking breaths every few words, and he silently picked a chair up and put it next to her bed, grabbing her hand and holding it with his larger ones. She tried a smile in his direction and sighed slightly before passing out.

_Tell me what you think, Love FAL/ Jay._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N. Ok. I know It's been an age since I posted anything, but I think moving countries (also hemispheres) is a reasonable excuse. So, Anyway, Thankyou To everyone who Favourited (THUMBS UP) and especially those who reviewed (Hi-5's + cookie). If anyone can name the song toward then end, or more specifically, the song from which the line is from, we'll get to see Bones HALF NAKED! (also if I get 7+ reveiws!!) Yup. I'm bribing. If we get 10+ reveiws, he's only in a TOWEL ladies and gents. He'll strip down to a TOWEL. *sigh*. Anyway, enjoy!  
Jay_

The rest of the night passed without event. Bones poked his head out the door every half an hour, before settling back down beside her. After running two scans, checking for anything that could cause the migraine, he fixed her blanket and waited for the first nurse to come on duty or for Emma to wake up and tell him she was OK (he half expected her to bounce up at any moment and yell 'got ya!' at which point he'd kick of a migraine by half strangling her).

While she was asleep, he studied her, with her eyes closed, it was easier to look at her. Her eyes were a dark and stormy grey blue that sparked with humour and barely held laughter almost all the time. But deep underneath that lay a concern that he couldn't quite place. It was different from the concern he felt when a patient came in, and different from the concern that had flashed across Jim's eyes briefly when Emma had stormed into lunch mumbling about her shoes and petting her hair woefully.

Her lips were his favourite, pale pink in colour, they were imperfect in the slightest ways that they seemed perfect; The slightly oversized lower lip, the scar that marked the right side, the arches of definition that were slightly uneven. He loved the way her nose wasn't button shaped like a dainty woman, but still didn't have the uneven bridge that occasionally came with it. Her eyes seemed to be the only perfect thing on her face, and even then, they were ever so slightly uneven in size; only noticeable if you focused on it.

He was studying her so intently that he only heard someone out in the hall when the entrance closed again. He stood silently and stepped out to greet them, happy to find it was a nurse. A girl in her second year, Belaya, was mature and calm and easy to get along with. He explained to her what had happened and ask her to be quiet; she told him that she wouldn't make a peep and he would hardly notice she was there. As he turned, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"You should get some sleep. You're dead on your feet and I won't have a doctor in here who isn't able to stay awake. If you want, you can stay in there, but if I walk in there in twenty minutes and you're not asleep, or at least resting, I'm going to kick you out" her voice was stern and he narrowed his eyes at her; she raised an eyebrow, telling him she wasn't afraid of him. He could barely contain a grin, and he nodded in defeat. He trudged back to the room, he was a _little_ tired, and settled down in his chair, laying his head on the bed and taking Emma's hand, before closing his eyes and drifting off.

* * *

Emma woke up and for a few milliseconds, was pain free. Then it hit her again and she threw herself over the edge of the bed and hurled into the bucket. Bones, who was sleeping next to her bed, didn't even flinch; he must have been dead tired. A nurse came in and sent her a sympathetic look.

"More painkillers?" she whispered, her eyes flicking to Bones and back to her in a lazy manner; Emma liked her even better for it, it meant she wasn't interested. Not that Emma herself was, but she didn't want anyone hurting Bones. Bones was her friend and she didn't do well with cleaning up broken hearts. But, back to the pain meds.

"If you could, I would love you forever" She managed to croak out, before hurling into the bucket again. The nurse nodded, grabbing the bucket and exiting the room. She returned thirty seconds later with a hydro spray and a clean bucket. Emma sent her a weak smile and thanked her as she injected the hydro spray. She nodded before exiting again.

Emma settled back down on the bed, her head pounding, the force making her eyes water in the process. She hadn't been hit with a migraine this bad or this sudden in a long time. Normally, she had a few lead up headaches that warned her of the coming pain, but this time, nothing. Maybe she had been stressing to much? It was probably the new environment. She looked down to Bones, who had tensed up slightly, and slid her hand back in between his; his shoulder relaxed again.

She winced as her head pounded harder and curled in on herself, leaving only her hand jutting out (the connection was soothing). She closed her eyes and begged her subconscious to take over.

It relieved her of her duties within the minute.

* * *

Bones woke again at midday, and stood silently, trying to ignore the way Emma was curled in on himself and failing dismally. He took a step outside and Belaya walked over to him and told him about Emma waking up and re-administering pain meds. She then offered him a sandwich and a coffee; Bones almost hugged the girl.

"Captain Pike came in to check on her while you were asleep. So did three cadets, Jim, Nyota and Gaila. All at separate times" Bones nodded, dragging his hands down his face, before devouring the sandwich and chugging the coffee. Jim sauntered in just as he pulled the coffee from his lips, looking worried. Jim seemed acutely interested in her welfare; Bones made a note to ask him about it later.

"Bones, is she OK?"

"_She_ is alive" Bones spun around, glaring at Emma who was leaning heavily on the doorframe, looking weak and pale, sweat beading on her forehead. Belaya moved to her before either of the boys could move.

"What're you doing up?" Jim asked, his face twisting with worry. Bones glared at her some more, waiting impatiently for her answer.

"Need more pain meds, these ones are wearing off and it's knocking me for a six," She told them while Belaya scanned her with a tri -corder, "hey, it's not a tumour, they've scanned me ever since I was 13, trying to see if that was what was causing these things. It's **not** a tumour" Belaya glared at her, while Bones injected her with pain killers. As Belaya guided her back to her bed she ignored Jim as he sat up on a bio-bed in the main room; and Bones, who sat next to him.

"Do you think she'll be OK tomorrow?" Jim asked, playing with some equipment before Bones thwacked him on the arm.

"I don't know. I've never dealt with this before... or at least, not this bad" Jim looked around, trying to find something to do or say; he never had been good with sitting still.

"It's only midday. She'll be fine by tomorrow" Bones wasn't sure whether it was directed to him or if Jim was saying it to himself. He patted Jim on the back in a sympathetic way before Belaya came out of the room, looking pissed.

"McCoy, she won't sleep unless you're there. Go, before she gets up again" Bones shrugged at Jim, ignoring his wide grin, and shuffled back into the room, falling into the seat next to Emma; she smiled at him weakly.

"It's easier to fall asleep with you here. I don't feel so alone" Her eyes fluttered closed, and she didn't bother to re-open them when it happened a second time. He simply took her hand gently and prepared to wait for her to wake up again.

* * *

When Emma woke up, Bones was tapping on his data-pad, still sitting in the chair next to her bed. Her head was only thudding lightly, lightly enough for her to deal with.

"What time is it?" she asked as she yawned, Bones raised an eyebrow before checking the data-pad he was working on.

"Half past 8 in the morning, you slept through yesterday" he told her, before standing up and stretching, yawning a little. She took a deep breath and sighed before it hit her; she had engineering up, first lesson, 9 o'clock. She threw the blankets back and sprinted out of the infirmary, making it just outside the building before Bones caught up and pulled her back inside.

"Leo! Let me go! I'm fine and I have to go!" She yelled, frantically struggling to get out of his grip; but he held firmly onto her shoulders.

"Emma! Emma!" he yelled over her, she stopped, "You just got over the worst migraine I have ever seen. Whatever is going on, I'm sure it's not as important as your health!" He hissed and she just rolled her eyes.

"Look, migraine is gone, I could dance I'm that fine. I have engine schematics and systems; it's the class where we learn what to do when something goes wrong. It's important. Very, very _important_" she told him, speaking slowly and clearly; as if he were a three year old. He growled.

"You. Are. Not. Going. Get back inside before I jab you with a sedative" he told her, his voice dangerously low. It gave Emma the feeling that the 'jab' would feel like a beating. She growled at him, repeating what he done earlier.

"This. Is. Important," she sighed and eased back, relaxing, "Leo, I need to go, you can tag along and monitor me, but I really need to get to class, and to do that, I need at least 10 minutes in my room before I do anything. So please, can we just go?" He stared into her eyes, and sighed after a long minute, releasing her and following her slowly as she ran across the field to her dorm. He stepped into the room, ignoring the mess the he had _just known_ would occupy Emma's room. He sat on the one not surrounded by shoes (the only one that could be hers) and noticed that her side was partially clean, it was mostly her roommate , Kaya, that made the mess.

Emma ran out of the shower a few minutes later, wrapped only in a towel, grabbing a uniform and underwear (plain black, Bones grinned) and running back to the bathroom. She came out, again, a few more minutes later, picking up two boots and jumping into them while finding her data-pad and shaking out her hair. Then she grabbed his hand and dragged him out, sprinting as fast as she can across campus and down hallways to arrive into a seminar room just as the professor walked in. Admiral Pickett looked Emma up and down before looking to Bones; his eyes instantly narrowed.

"Cadet Avery, your... _friend_ doesn't need to be here" He said the word friend as if it meant something more, and everyone in the room knew it and what the Admiral had meant. Emma took a deep breath in and squared her shoulder; Bones quickly interrupted her to save her ass. Admiral Pickett was known as a hard ass who didn't take crap.

"Sir, cadet Avery spent the weekend in the infirmary and I need to monitor her to make sure that she should have checked herself out" Emma glared at him, her nostrils flaring, but he ignored her. Pickett didn't, and simply nodded to Bones, before looking at Emma.

"Cadet, you wish to add something?" he asked in a voice so inquisitive it sounded as if he _almost_ actually wanted to know. Emma noticed this and still answered him.

"Nothing I could say would benefit you, even if it would provide humour to the class, _Sir_" She mocked, before taking a seat in the middle of the auditorium, glad that Bones followed her. Pickett scowled before starting his lecture.

* * *

Emma nudged Bones awake at the end of the lecture, her data-pad full of new notes and a grin plastered on her face.

"C'mon Bonesey boy, we're going to the next class. Engineering mathematics" She picked herself up and wrapped her arms around Bones' waist and refraining a sigh when his arm slid easily around her shoulders ; men were no good to fall in love with. Love wasn't what she wanted right now. What she wanted was to get onto a ship, preferably the new ship, still being built, _The Enterprise_.

So she just guided him to her next class, where he fell asleep again as she worked, wondering why he was so tired.

* * *

How Emma had convinced Bones, Jim, Nyota _and_ Gaila to come out on a Monday night, no one knew. Well, Gaila and Jim were easy, but the others? Bones remember her conning him with a 'I need you to monitor me. I may faint! I feel so woozy!" and watching her dramatically put her hand to her forehead, but that was about it. It had been much too easy for her to convince him to come out. '_Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous'_ he chanted to himself.

Nyota didn't care ; It was the start of her second week and she was killing for a night out and Gaila was always up for alcohol and the possibility of a night with someone else to warm her bed. Jim... was the same as Gaila.

Emma was out of the dance floor with both Nyota and Gaila and Bones was surprised that she seemed to look like she knew more about dancing that just experience and knowledge of the song; all the girls in the club had yelled out 'I'm a free bitch, baby!' at the right time and kept dancing making the males wonder about what had just happened. When the song ended, they all came to join Jim and Bones, both drinking, and sat down laughing.

"You went to dance school, didn't you?" Nyota asked, and Bones was glad that someone other than him had noticed; and even more glad that Nyota had asked instead of making him do it. Emma grinned before taking a sip of her vodka mud-shake.

"I lived in Russia from the age of 16 to 20, and worked in my grandmothers dance-studio. I've been dancing since I was 7" She told them and Bones felt like she had some baggage left in Russia; baggage she wanted to let out but didn't know how. Gaila presented the perfect opportunity.

"Ooo, Russia! Sexy men come from Russia! Did you have a boyfriend, or several of them?" She asked wickedly, already slightly tipsy and very giggly.

"I had a fiancé for half a year, actually" Emma told them, not even slightly fazed. Bones ignored the icy feeling that swept over him and reminded himself that she had hinted that it had ended.

"Only half a year?" He asked, forcing his voice to sound casual. She nodded before taking another sip from her bottle.

"Yup. We caught each other cheating. His name was Nikolai. He was Russian and incredibly gorgeous" She told Gaila, winking to Nyota as well. Bones didn't like Nikolai; and he didn't know why.

"_You_ cheated?! Wow, our good little girl Emma has deep, dark secrets. Naughty, naughty Emma" Gaila told her in a mocking tone, before standing up and demanding they move to the dance floor because 'this song is totally _delicious'_.

The three girls didn't bring it up again, and Bones considered the subject closed; for tonight at least.

_More is revealed about Emma. OoOoOoO!! Nikolai, by the way, is actually very good looking. VERY good looking. XD  
Reveiws make my muse whirl more. She likes whirling. It makes her think of ideas. I like ideas. They make me type.  
FAL._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N. OK, so, Thanks to LeenQZeen (love the name), Koryu Elric (yes, this counts as 5!), Ac Colins (yes, 'tis rather spunky), Skatinggirl2011 (yes, IT IS!! AHAHAHA someone got the reference! I LOVE YOU NOW!), and StaticSilence (yes, migraines do suck. A lot. I would know *sadface*)._

_Alrighty, and yes, since we named the song, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga - she rocks- Bones does get stripped. He He He. This chapter starts off a little angsty, but ends up cute... I think, at least, and we learn about Emma. I actually find her facinating. She's a rather nice person :S Anyway,  
ENJOY!!  
Love, FAL._

_OHHH by teh way, before i added chapter number 2, like 5 minutes before, i edited chapter 1, and forgot to tell you, so yeh, check it out, its mucchhhh better. XD_

_(oh, we only got 9 reveiws. So, no towel. Lets try again for the next chapter!!)  
_

Seven months later, Emma's hair had grown, so she had cut it shorter on the left and kept it long of the right, grinning when a few cadets had asked her where she had it cut. She had been noticing little things about Bones that were beginning to drive her mad; the way he smelled in the morning, the way his hair sometimes fell in front of his eyes, the way his eyes glowed darkly when he was angry. She was trying new things to block him out of her head, including getting rather drunk or smashing the punching bags, or other cadets, down in the gym. She just couldn't understand why this was so hard.

She didn't remember this being so hard with Nikolai, and she had almost walked down the aisle with that guy. Then again, Nikolai had been a cheating, annoying bastard who had not let her go even after she had told him a million times to stay away. He had not been wanted.

Bones, on the other hand, was completely want-

_Stop. Stop, stop, stop._ She yelled at herself, banging her head against the wall several times, before a voice stopped her.

"Hey! Emma, babe, **stop that**!" Jim yelled out, before catching up to her and pulling her back. Her eyes watered.

"I just don't _get_ it. Why does it have to be so freaking _hard_? It was never this hard before!" She told him, before the tears spilled down her cheeks. Jim looked panicked for a second and then he smiled sympathetically and pulled her to him, holding her to his chest.

"I don't know, baby girl, why don't you explain this whole thing?" He pulled her back a little and held her chin so that she was looking him in the eye. She just cried some more before pulling back into his chest.

"He won't get out of my head. It's like he's stuck in there and he won't _get out!_" She sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly.

"Do I need to beat someone up? I mean, I'd gladly get Bones and beat up whoever you point to" He told her, his voice soft and smooth, calming her right down so that she gained enough control to stop the tears. She took a few deep, shaky breaths.

"No-one. Never mind, it's not important" She tried a smile and _knew_ it looked pitiful. She pulled back, moving out of his grasp. He looked down at her, worry evident on his face.

"Are you sure? If you don't tell overconfident, cocky smiles. She rolled her eyes and cleaned herself up a little bit.

"I'll never tell, and you'll never find out" She told him and he rolled his eyes, grinning at her. She thanked him and began to walk away, heading off to psychology, before he stopped her.

"Emma, I consider you my baby sister, you know that right? You're like the little sister I never had. You're important to me, and I'm going to protect you against anyone and everyone, including yourself if need be" he told her, his eyes wide and his face sincere and innocent. She felt her heart squeeze a little, in a completely different way than the way it felt when Bones said something sweet, the only similarity between them being that they both made her feel incredibly warm and loved.

"Jim, I could never have asked her a better brother. In fact, you're the first and only one I'd ever ask for" She told him, hugging him again before heading off to her class, not looking back so that he wouldn't see how much he had affected her.

She walked into the psych room with red eyes and face and _immediately_ everyone knew that she'd been crying, including Bones (who was only taking this class because he _had_ to).

"Do you need a moment to collect yourself, cadet?" Admiral Dickens asked her, his voice soft and caring. He had a way of making you feel as if you weren't just one of the many nameless faces that showed up in his room every day.

"No, thank you, Professor. If we could just ignore me?" He bowed his head in acknowledgment and Emma made her way next to Bones, simply because he had been staring at her, worry written all over his face, as if he were her brother... or just her best friend. She sat next to him and smiled up to him, begging him to ignore her in a quite whisper. He complied, limiting sidelong glances and pulling his arm back when she shrugged it off. When the end of class came, he followed her out.

"Emma, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked her, dragging her to the side so they could have a little privacy. She blocked off her senses as best she could and kept her eyes on her feet.

"Nothing. It's just been a tough day" She told him, keeping her voice from fluctuating.

"Don't lie to me Emma, you know you suck at it" he told her, his voice betraying a small amount of hurt. She looked up at him, her eyes accusing and her chin set.

"Why are _you_ hurt, huh? You don't even have to worry about this shit. Why the hell are you hurt?" she hissed, waiting for an answer. He didn't even flinch, almost as if he had expected this reaction.

"Because, Emma, we're friends, hell, I'd even go far enough to call us best friends. You won't tell me why you've been crying, you've been avoiding me for days now and I don't know why. I just... I feel like I've done something, or you don't trust me enough to tell me something is wrong" His eyes were sad and Emma's resolve cracked. She couldn't be mad at him, she shouldn't. It wasn't his fault he was irresistible, or that he didn't like her ; seriously, who would? She sighed and hugged herself.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to go through it again. Ask Jim, ok? Tell him I said you could know. I just... I really don't want to cry again" She told him and he softened all over. He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head. She sighed and tried to ignore the way his hands doubled over at her waist and the way his neck got goose bumps from her cold nose. She pulled back once she couldn't take it anymore and he let her go, if slightly reluctant.

"Ok, but promise to stop avoiding me?" He had pulled up her chin so that she was looking directly into those hazel eyes. Those damn hazel eyes that made her heart beat quicken and her mind clear so that she was thinking several things at once; how nice it would be to kiss him, how stupid that would be, wondering what colour his eyes would be considered, wondering how many bucket of paint it would take to paint her whole room that colour. She felt safe, but at the same time, as if she were on the edge of a cliff, so she did the second most stupid thing she could have done.

"Alright, I won't avoid you" And he let her go, just like that. And he smiled and ruffled up her hair.

"Good. I'll see you tonight?" she must have looked bewildered, "we're all meeting up at my room at 7 to go out, Jim's choice. Gaila was meant to tell you" He grinned.

"Oh, right, yeah, I'll be there" she told him before he gave her a brief hug and a small 'see you then' before walking away. She liked the way her brain slowed down to normal pace as he left, but mostly, she enjoyed the view of his butt as he walked away. When he turned down another hallway, she shook her head and walked on to her next class, and she groaned when she remembered that it was Engineering mathematics.

She would much rather just follow Bones down the hall and watch him walk... anywhere. She scurried off to class before she followed through on the threat she made to herself.

* * *

At 6:45, Emma was hurrying along to Jims' room, still in her cadet uniform, having only had time to shower and pull on a fresh uniform after being called back by Admiral Dickens so she could explain that she was OK and no one was assaulting her in any way, shape or form. If she had stayed back to choose what to wear, she would have arrived at 7, which would have made her late, since they were leaving at 7; they said meeting, but it meant leaving to their group.

So, she was casually jogging down the hall and stopped at Jim's room, barging through the door (not knocking, she was already the last one there, probably) and ran straight into Bones.

It took her less than a second to realise that he wasn't fully clothed.

Bones. Shirtless. Jean low on his hips. Like, _very_ low. Low enough to see the 'v' lines that led to a very _private_ place and low enough to reveal the little line of hair below his belly button. Low enough to reveal his entire stomach. That incredibly sexy, toned stomach.

"Hey, hey, where's the fire?" _On the bottom of your pants, quickly, take them off, before you get burned._

"No fire" she told him, barely avoiding stuttering. She wanted to trace his abs. _With her tongue_. Is this the part where she was meant to faint? And then he would pick her up and they would fall in love and make love all night?

He moved away and pulled on a shirt. She was mesmerised by the way his muscles rippled when he moved to pull on his shirt. She averted her eyes, looking around the room when he had it pulled over his head ; his hair was messy now, in a completely sexy way.

She moved to make Jim's bed, and then Leo's and then she started to clean, telling Bones that his room was a mess.

"Like you can talk. I've seen your room, it's pretty bad" she glared at him.

"Only Kaya's half" she growled. He raised an eyebrow but let it go. Jim and Gaila fell into the room, followed by a graceful –as always- Uhura, who scowled at the pair laughing on the floor. It took Jim a few moments to collect himself.

"Alright everyone, time to go. Time to parrr-taaayyy" He told them, before bursting into laughter, followed closely by Gaila who laughed with him.

"They've already drunk enough, I think" Uhura told us with a roll of her eyes; Bones looked down at Jim, shaking his head.

"Alright kid, how much did you drink?" His voice was no-nonsense, reminding Emma of the time she had limped into med-bay, greeted by his 'alright, missy, what did you do now?'. It was when his southern twang shone out most... at least, that's what she thought. Sometimes, when she overheard him flirting with women in bars, it was very thick (it made her weak at the knees, really) but she wondered when it was thickest...

"We only had a bottle... each" Gaila told them, before bursting out into laughter again.

"A bottle of what, Gaila?" Emma asked them, slightly scared of the answer; Jim laughed.

"A bottle of vodka, of course! _Russian_ vodka, Emma, _Russian_" Jim told her, with an added emphasis on 'Russian'. She glared at him, her cheeks going bright red, and regretted ever mentioning Nikolai around them.

"Ugh. C'mon, where is it? If we're not going out, I need something to tide me over till tomorrow" She asked him, once her cheeks had gone back to a normal shade. He grinned and pulled a bottle out from underneath his bed, handing it to her as if it were the most normal thing.

"Alright, well, we're going out" Jim told them, linking his arm through Gaila's. Uhura rolled her eyes.

"I'm going back to my room, to sleep. Don't you dare come in tonight or tomorrow morning about to have sex. Not into my room" Uhura glared and stormed out.

"Well, I'm staying here" Emma told them, plonking down and fingering the bottle, as if unsure she wanted to drink it. Gaila got excited suddenly, she pulled Jim toward the door.

"Leo, stay here and watch her, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid" She looked to Jim with a meaningful look, that both Leo and Emma missed.

"Yeah, all we're going to be doing is drinking tequila shots and probably screwing around... with each other" He yelled as they skipped from the room, laughing as they went. Leo rolled his eyes and sighed as he sat next to her.

"Are you really going to drink that?" He asked, suspicious, "because, you don't want to end up like them, seriously" She chuckled a little, before sighing and putting it back under Jim's bed.

"No. I just thought I was, but I don't want to screw either of them" They both chuckled and Leo collapsed back onto his bed, Emma nervously following him.

"Tell me about what happened after Nikolai?" his voice was uncertain, as if he were afraid she would say that it was none of his business and storm out.

"After Nikolai? I moved to Egypt for a year and a half" she told him, shrugging as if it were normal.

"What happened there, what happened after? Tell me everything" he asked, his voice curious and more confident now.

"Everything?" she asked, and when he nodded, she continued, "Well, after Nikolai, I didn't really want a relationship, so I just focused on learning things. I learnt languages, mostly, but sometimes I learnt cultures. In Egypt, I learnt how to speak Egyptian, and how to write some of it and then when things became too... normal, I moved to Spain and learnt Spanish. I still swear in Russian, as you have heard, and when things get really... intense, I speak Russian. I lived in Spain for half a year, before moving to Australia for a year and learning to surf. But, that became boring for a while, and Grandma was getting sick, so I went back to Russia. I went back to her studio and bummed around for a while, doing little things here and there, for a year, before I met up with some friends from when I was living in Virginia. That was where I lived from 9 to 16" she told him, yawning. He digested it all silently, nodded and storing it all somewhere.

"And then? What did you do with your friends?" he asked after a small while; She grinned.

"Travelled around Ireland and Scotland, then France, and lost a bet" She grinned up at him, mentally adding _and won a new, interesting, crazy group of friends and a man I'm crazy about_.

"How long did you travel with your friends for?" he asked, figuring out something.

"Three years, why?" she asked, prodding him in the ribs; he grinned.

"Your 27 years old" he told her and she looked at him in a way that said '_and_?'

"Thank you for informing me of my age. Why didn't you just ask me?" He blushed a bit.

"Back home, it's rude to ask a lady how old she is. My mother told me never to ask a lady that. Some habits die hard" He shrugged and grinned at her, the colour in his cheeks fading.

"What's your story then, mister? Since you got mine, I want yours" He shook his head.

"I'm not telling you how old I am" He yawned and Emma felt her eyes droop.

"Sleep time, I think" she told him, yawning and stretching out, not bothering to move when he pulled her up so they were sharing a pillow.

"mmm" He replied sleepily. When he didn't get a response and he was sure she was asleep, he pulled her closer, and smiled as her face burrowed into his neck, her cold nose giving him goose bumps. He hugged her to him and pulled the blanket over them, yawning again and falling asleep before he could hear her sleep talk.

If he had stayed away, he would have heard her say his name.

And then he would have heard her curse Nikolai and say his name, followed by three little words that she didn't even know she was thinking about saying... ever.

_My new cat just curled up on my lap, so I'm typing one handed, since he's sitting on my arm ; its now a pillow.  
but, yes, reveiw if you liked it, feed me if you loved it, and give me money if you hated it. Tell me what you liked and didnt like. I'm interested. nnnaaww kitty cats getting comfy *gooey face*_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N!! Akrighty, folks, just a filler, thankyou to Random Tweaker (didnt keep you waiting long, now did I?) and Koryu Elric for reveiwing so quickly!!_

_And Koryu, thankyou for the Bones pie. It was delicious!_

_Ok, so This chapter just sets it up so that I can time everything right, and the way I want it. The next chapter will MOST LIKELY get Bones in a towel... or less XD!! I would like some reveiws, but they arent necessary. I'm rather happy with my current crew :) Give me a few dyas for the next chapter. It should be long and.. well, awesome. I've been skipping time periods of 6+ months up until now and the next chapter will probably be set over a few days... like, continually. The time will be in the third year, so 2 chapters from now should see us on the Enterprise, or, saying farewell to Emma as she boards another ship and dies. Or will she survive in an escape pod? WHO KNOWS?! (ME ! ME ! ME!)_

_Thankyou to anyone who read that ^^^ you're a champion. I'm giving you a cookie. right now :) *hands cookie*_

_Anyway, Enjoy! FAL ; Jay._

_DISCLAIMER: Don't Own Star Trek *sad face* If I Did... I Would Be Old Enough For Karl Urban... *even sadder face* pity... really, it is. ALSO : any spelling mistakes? report em to me!!  
I DO OWN EMMA. and Nikolai (hint. hint) But thats it._

When Bones woke up and found Emma right next to him, curled up into him, he wasn't sure what to do. He knew that if she woke up to find them in this position, she would be angry and embarrassed, and he had a feeling she would start avoiding him again, so he made a choice.

He slowly, _slowly_, got up and moved to Jim's bed, roughing it up so it looked used, lying down and closing his eyes. He waited patiently for her to wake, thinking about her adventures while he waited.

When she woke, only a few minutes later, she stretched –Bones heard her back crack, and made a note to check it out later- and rolled out of bed with an 'oomph'. He blurrily opened his eyes and looked at her on the ground, before he laughed; she glared for a second before joining him.

"Good morning" he said once he had control of himself again.

"Good morning" she said, with a small nod, as she got up.

"It's only 6, we don't have class for a bit" he checked the clock and moved out of bed, toward the coffee machine.

"Mmmm, well, I'd better go and let you get some shower time" she told him, sniffing lightly.

"What? Do I smell?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear. She grinned back wickedly.

"Yeah, you do. Really, _really_ bad. You smell like an ogre" she fanned her nose mockingly and made a face before grinning again. He pulled her into a bear hug, enveloping her in his smell – which she found beautiful somehow. A mixture of whiskey, sanitizer and something completely Bones- and they both laughed until he let her go.

"Alrighty, I'll go have a shower so I don't smell quite so appealing, little miss Ogre Lover" he tapped her nose before moving to the bathroom; she chuckled and kept her eyes on his butt as he walked away, only moving to the door once he had gotten into the bathroom.

She chuckled all the way back to her room, so happy that the memories about falling asleep in his arms last night didn't invade, and wouldn't until the next day, when she blushed once before falling into her normal routine of drinking and beating the punching bags. But she never avoided him again.

The months rolled by, and so did the new year (everyone but Emma went home; she went to Paris to watch the Eifel tower light up, before heading off to the Japanese hills). A few months into the second year, and Emma still had a pretty clean record – Pike was waiting for her to stuff up...so was Bones-. But, apart from the mild drinking and the few complaints about beating in the gym, she was on the good books. Her hair had grown out again, and she had let it go back to its original colour ; a rather light brown, which shocked everyone so much that she threatened to die it black again.

She didn't avoid Bones, but she did spend a lot of time blocking out her senses. She cut the drinking from heavy to mild, and the beating sessions she kept to the bags that were there to be beat up, for the most part. She learnt to block him out in tiny bits; she stopped staring at his ass (mostly) and she stopped daydreaming about his abs. She learnt to block out how he smelt in the morning (mostly) and she avoiding looking him in the eye as much when he was feeling something.

When the holidays ended, everyone noticed that she was lighter, more playful. She began playing tag between classes, playing little games at lunch like switching Jim's packet of chips for her empty one and laughing. Everyone loved this new, happy, childish Emma, and soon it simmered down to just a lighter Emma, who played tag between classes and laughed easier and told more jokes. So when she came tearing down the hallway, running at Jim full pace, she was surprised to see him standing in the corridor, leaning against the wall with a casual, easy grace that she envied, she became suspicious and slowed to a halt.

"Hey Jimmy! What's up?" she asked, keeping her voice light and casual. Jim looked to her and smiled sadly.

"Remember when you broke down crying in this hall? And I told you that I consider you my baby sister and I hugged you?" His voice was quiet and filled with emotion, she came closer to see that he was barely keeping control.

"Yes. What's wrong, Jim? What's happened?" she put a hand on his should and almost broke when she felt him shaking.

"My mum got a new boyfriend and he's all wrong for her. She's so desperate that she'll take anyone who shows interest and I don't know what to do anymore. I just want her to be happy" his voice broke and he cried. Emma stood there, shocked until she remembered his words; 'and I hugged you'. So that's what she did, she hugged him, pulling him closer and holding his head, whispering soothing words into his ear and rubbing his back. The bell rang to signal that they should be in class, but neither of them budged. He stopped crying and just held onto her, wiping his face and taking a few deep breaths. She pulled back so that she could see his face and smiled sadly to him.

"Jim, it'll be alright. Maybe you want to talk to her about it?" she left a hand on his shoulder, squeezing sympathetically.

"I tried, she just yelled at me and started crying. She said that not everyone could be my father. That no one would ever replace him" He looked down, sighing.

"Jim, your parents were in love. Your mum can't find someone to replace him and she's not trying to, she's just trying to find someone who can put putty in the holes that your dad left when he... when he died" she told him softly, keeping her voice low in the hopes that it would ease the blow. He nodded and sighed again before pulling her into a quick hug.

"You'd better get to class. If your teacher asks, just tell them I held you up" he let her go and walked down the hall she had just come from.

"Jim!" she yelled out to him, he turned to listen, "You're like a big brother to me, you know that? But just cause your my big brother and I'm the baby doesn't mean I'm not here to protect you. I'm here to help you when you need me, and especially when you don't want me" he nodded and smiled in thanks, shoving his hands into his pockets and heading down the hall.

* * *

Six months later, Emma had dealt with Jim's Mother's boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, and Jim was at peace and happy with the friendship between his mother and his baby sister. It was their weekly outing for dinner (Emma's choice), and Jim was playing foosball with Emma. Gaila and Uhura were chatting eagerly, with Bones occasionally dipping in comments which made the girls laugh. When Jim finally beat Emma, they both came back to the table, Emma fuming and glaring at Jim.

"You meant to let the girl win, Jim" Bones' voice was amused, until Emma glared at him too.

"Nuh-uh. The girl's meant to let me win" Jim told them, sounding slightly like a little kid. The song switched and Emma looked to Uhura and Gaila before grinning, and running over to the DJ, beginning him to turn it up and then running out onto the dance floor when he complied. Jim looked to Bones, sipping at his beer.

"Maybe you should go out there with them" he suggested with a grin.

"I don't dance. Besides, they're fine" Bones gruffly told him; Jim grinned wider.

"Yes, they are fine, aren't they?" Bones made sure that Jim was looking at Uhura or Gaila before looking at Emma and squirming; he quickly averted his eyes. He was meant to be **over** this.

"yes, she is" he whispered, thinking that Jim couldn't hear him, and feeling the complete idiot when Jim burst into laughter.

"**I KNEW IT**! Go to her, Romeo, woo her, dance with her, make _loooove_ to her, Romeo!" He yelled loudly, so that every in the club heard him and Bones eyes went wide before becoming daggers.

"_Jim_" his voice a low, menacing growl and the small, teeny tiny sober part of Jim told him that if he didn't stop **right now**, he was going to get into some _serious_ trouble.

Jim never listened to that part.

"Bones and Bluebird, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love then-" Bones threw his fist into Jims' jaw, and a satisfying amount of blood was sprayed out as Jim's head flung in the direction that Leos' fist pushed it. Jim went down and hit the floor with a thud; the DJ paused the music and everyone was staring intently at them; the girls rushed over. Gaila and Uhura both were unsure of what to do while Emma went right to Jim, berating Leo as she went.

"Leonard! What the hell do you think you're you doing?! HUH?! Ty glupyĭ chelovek! Ty s uma soshel?! Vy ne bitʹ vash luchshiĭ drug! GET OUT! GET OUT, GET OUT, _GET OUT_!" He got the gist of what she was saying, even if Bones couldn't understand it.

"Emma, calm down" Uhura told her, only to receive a fierce glare from Emma. Uhura glared right back at her. Emma let out a frustrated sigh and pointed to Bones.

"nesti yego, glupyĭ chelovek. ispravitʹ oshibku vy sdelali" she growled to him, pointed then at Jim.

"She said to pick him up and help correct your mistake. And before? She said that you don't just beat up on your best friend. She also called you a stupid person... twice" Uhura told him, while Emma went over to the barman to apologize and pay for their drinks.

Bones picked Jim up and threw him over his shoulder, carefully, so he didn't hurt him further. He rolled his eyes at Emma's antics; how close were she and Jim anyway? The thought worried him and made him angry. If Jim and Emma were a piece, he would just have to grin and bear it, but he wouldn't like it.

_Damn it, man, you're _not_ some love struck teenager. You do _not_ want to go there. Ever._

He stomped outside, following Uhura's steady pace, and waited from Emma and Gaila to catch up impatiently. When Emma came out, he wished she wouldn't keep glaring at him, it made him nervous.

"Get him back to the infirmary and make sure he's OK. God, if you've hurt him permanently, you're going to wish he had hit you" she told him darkly, her tone implying what she did not.

He followed her orders and took Jim to the infirmary and fixed him up. The bruise on his jaw lasted a week and a bit, and his split lip last a week and Emma ignored Bones for every day that Jim suffered. Bones was getting fed up by it all, so when Emma had been talking to him for three days (Jim had not refused to talk to him and had tried to convince Emma to talk to him) he finally cracked and stood up abruptly at the lunch table, declaring himself finished –even though he was clearly not- and grabbing his tray to walk away with it.

Emma threw Jim a confused look and smiled in thanks as Jim got up to follow him.

"Bones! Oi, Bones!" Jim yelled, running to catch up to the older man. Bones kept walking until he was outside the cafeteria and on the lawn in front of the buildings. Here he sat down, not moving when Jim sat next to him. They sat in silence for a while, until Jim broke it.

"Why did you storm out back there?" he tried to make it sound as though it were no big deal and was glad to have succeeded.

"Because... I can't stand her. I can't stand you. Jim, I don't care what's going on, in fact, I'd rather not know, but until you two aren't together anymore, I can't be around you. It drives me insane" His voice was heavily accented and Jim took a moment to realise what he meant, and how much it affected him.

"Bones, Emma and I aren't a couple. We're like brother and sister" his voice was upbeat, positive, confident and reassuring, all at the same time. Bones looked over to him, his eyes questioning, looking for any deceit, any reason why Jim would lie.

"Really? Honestly?" His voice no longer heavily accented, Jim took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Nope, no relationship. Now, Gaila, I would love to get my paws on our little Gaila. If only Uhura would let me anywhere near her in private" Bones chuckled, before bursting into laughter and Jim joined him.

"You know, Jim, even though you annoy the hell out of me sometimes, you're alright, kid, you're alright" Bones said, once they had both calmed down and were laying on the grass looking at the sky.

"You know, Leo, even though I annoy the hell out of you sometimes, I do mean well, kid, I do mean well" Jim told him, with a laugh. Bones thwacked him in the chest and stood up, holding an arm out to Jim.

"God you piss me off, kid"

_Alrighty, I hope everone enjoyed it, and is waiting PATIENTLY for the next chapter. I know, this was kind of pointless, but I wanted to explain the dynamics of Jim and Emma's relationship. They're actually really close. Mmhhmmmm. oohh wait till you meet Nikolai. god hes a hunk *shivers*... mmm badass hunk *shiver* OH BONES!!! *runs away, following Bones -who called to her and leads her to a romantic picnic... probably to get her to shut up about Nikolai... who he hates. A LOT-* THAT WAS A HINT - You'll see in the next one *evil laugh*_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N. Ok, I know a lot of you didn't like the last chapter, but we had to have that obiligtory EmmaJim brother sister relationship, also I wanted to explore the relatioship behind Bones and Jim brotherly love thing. It was fun to write. Oh, and No, I don't speak Russian, i really wish I did, but Google Translator is my best friend. So, here it is, Ladies and Gents, one of my favourite chpaters yet. Now THIS was fun to write. XD. Enjoy it, Reveiw it, Love it, Hate it. Next chapter we start the movie stuff._

_malenʹkiĭ ptitsa - Little bird._

_LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Jay._

It was four months into their third year, and Emma had laughed when Jim told her of his plans to take the Kobayashi Maru test, for the third time, in a few days. Emma had stopped drinking completely, and was simply working in the gym a lot more, never beating up on other cadets, but sticking to the equipment provided. Her hair was now down at the bottom of her shoulder blades, matching up with Uhura's, and was black once again, with 3 discreet blue streaks on the bottom. Jim had begun calling her 'bluebird', and he said it was because of the three streaks in her hair and her last name; Avery, like a bird aviary. It wasn't.

Since it was Bones' choice for dinner that week, they were headed out to a small bar a few minutes away from the academy; that way it was easier to drag Jim home. So, were they were, sitting at a table, enjoying the noise of the small crowd around them and the small conversation they kept going. It was an enjoyable evening and no dramatics had happened yet –Jim was still in the process of eyeing off a girl- but Emma had a bad feeling. Ever since she had heard the name of the bar, she just couldn't shake the feeling that the name was familiar. As if, when she had been younger, someone had mentioned it. It hit her all too late.

Nikolai had told her when they had first met, this was his favourite bar. She had told him she'd never been, and he had told her she really must. She groaned, and huffed when everyone looked to her in question. But before anyone could ask, a loud voice filled the room, making Emma freeze in shock.

"malenʹkiĭ ptitsa!" She shivered and turned around, before grinning.

"You bastard!" She said, half jokingly, getting up and out of her seat to go hug a man that Gaila thought was scrumptious. His black hair was shaved very short and his eyes were so dark they could be considered black. His body was obviously in good shape from the way his too tight shirt clung to him. He wasn't at all overpowering, he was an average weight, if rather tall and had an uneven smile that was directed to Emma. They conversed in Russian, Gaila guessed, for a few minutes, before Emma grinned again and brought him over to the group.

"Hey everyone, this is Nikolai. Nikolai, this is Bones, Jim, Uhura and Gaila" His eyes lingered a little longer over Gaila, of which she was proud, before grinning to the group and speaking.

"Hello, everyone" his accent was thick, dark and sexy; Gaila barely refrained a shiver. Nikolai sat down in between Emma and Jim, and the conversation picked up again, Nikolai's voice speaking when Bones was silent.

Jim knew Bones was brooding. If it had been more obvious, Nikolai would have known to back off. Jim caught his eye before speaking up.

"Bones, I think I'm going to be sick, help me out" He feigned sickness, and ignored the concerned look Emma shot him. Bones got up silently and escorted him out, staying silent until they got outside where he took a few deep breaths before turning to Jim.

"I think I should leave, before I cause trouble," his voice was accented deeply, and he sounded confused, "I just don't get it. I thought it was a bad break up... I thought that implied they would avoid each other. I thought once a marriage ended-" He stopped himself, looking... slightly angry, a little hurt and very confused. Jim put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Bones, sometimes distance makes wounds heal. Sometimes things are too broken to be fixed... Sometimes, when relationships go wrong, people understand it and don't fight it and they can continue being friends, and sometimes they can't. It doesn't reflect on the people or the relationship. It reflects on the circumstances" Jim was surprised by how wise he sounded. If anyone asked, he would deny every saying that... it was way too gooey. Bones too, looked surprised, but thankful.

"Jim, wherever that come from, thanks. I still think I should just grab my coat and go though" Jim nodded in agreement; too many things could happen and he wasn't sure that even he would stay. They both went back in and saw Uhura and Gaila both at the bar and Jim looked back to the table to see Emma and Nikolai talking very intently, very close together. And then they kissed.

Not just a soft farewell peck either, no, a full on 'we're-out-of-here' make out, where Emma put her hand on his cheek and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Jim looked back to see Bones turn his head away, his eyes crackling with rage and hurt.

"I'll get our stuff, shall I?" he moved toward the table before Bones responded. He hurriedly picked up both his and Leos' jacket, sending Emma a small glare when she looked up, and speed walking back to Bones before anything happened. He placed a quick farewell kiss on Gaila's cheek before grabbing Bones' arm and storming out. Bones' arms were shaking with emotion and he followed Jim blindly. He had calmed down quite a bit by the time they were halfway to the academy, but he still didn't talk.

"Why don't you just tell her you're crazy about her?" Jim suggested lightly. Bones shot him a glare.

"Because I'm not _meant_ to be," he sighed in anger, "and because I've been forcing it down for so long that I don't know what's going to happen when I admit it. And if she doesn't like me back, that sounds so high school, but if she doesn't, which she won't, then what the hell am I going to do? I mean, I'm going to be going crazy while we're just standing there, and I'm revealing my heart and soul and she's just stamping on it with her heel. What do I do then?" They had reached the dorm building and Bones quickly punched in their security code.

"Bones, just try-"

"No. No trying, no admitting and if you tell her, so help me _God_, she will be ignoring me forever" His voice was low, gravely and accented, telling Jim that he should be afraid... and part of his was. Bones could be intimidating, sure. But when you knew for a fact that he had an intense dislike for certain foods and plants, it was easy to forgive and forget. But, Jim did remain silent, right up until Bones sent him a huffed 'goodnight' after preparing for bed.

"G'night Bones..." he wasn't sure what else to say, so he left it at that.

* * *

Jim slept fitfully all night, angry and anxious and curious. Did they sleep together? Did she tell him no? Was he still here? How could he tell her about Bones, without _telling_ her?

He rolled out of bed at 6 o'clock, fed up with trying to get back to sleep, and prepared for the day. He was quiet enough to not wake Bones and managed to sneak out before the other man even stirred; he put the coffee machine on before he left, his way of saying 'sorry' on Emma's behalf. He walked slowly to Uhura's dorm, hands in his pockets. When he finally arrived at his destination, he knocked on the door, knowing that Uhura would be awake; she had a morning coffee at 6:10 and never missed it. Uhura answered the door, already in uniform, coffee in hand and sent Jim a sympathetic smile.

"How angry was Bones?" she asked, moving so he could come in. She moved over to her bed and sat down, leaving room for Jim next to her. He was in too glum a mood to look at Gaila; which meant things were _very_ serious.

"Oh, really angry. Shaking angry. Questioning his own divorce, you know... Bones angry" He told her, keeping his voice down to allow Gaila some extra sleep.

"I don't know the details yet, but I know that they left together. He was more... lovey than she was. She was kind of pushing him off a little bit, but it looked like he was getting to her" Her voice was gloomy, and Jim could get the image of Nikolai and Emma kissing out of his head.

"The shit's really gonna hit the fan when Emma comes in for breakfast today. Luckily its Friday, so tomorrow they won't have to put up with each other. It's gonna be really bad, Uhura, it's gonna be really bad"

* * *

They made their way out with Gaila an hour and a half later, heading off to the breakfast hall, even if it was a little early. They had barely sat down 10 minutes when Bones walked in, looking as if his favourite dog had just been run over. They avoided the name Nikolai and Emma, and even avoided the words 'sex', 'love' and 'crush'.

Emma didn't join them until class was about to start and they were headed out the door. She looked like a mess; eyes bloodshot, mouth set in a frown, nose bright red and her hair looked was damp and messy as if she had gotten out of the shower a while ago and hadn't bothered to fix it. Her whole body screamed 'depressed'. She whispered a 'hello' quickly to them as she flew past and her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment at the small word. Bones went from looking depressed to angry within the second and he stormed out of the hallway.

The three remaining companions looked at each other and shrugged as they headed off to their separate classes.

* * *

By the time all her classes had finished, Emma was downright depressed. Even more so than earlier. Bones had ignored her in Psychology, he had even gone as far as to sit in a different spot, a clear sign that he didn't want to be anywhere near her. Why did Nikolai have to walk back into her life and stuff up everything, again? Then again, what right did Bones have to ignore her for simply meeting up with her ex? Ugh, men were so stupid, those two especially.

She was expecting to have the whole night to herself, so she had pulled on her pyjama shorts and had dragged a tank top that was torn an inch or two above the belly button over her black bra, not caring that if anyone should come in, it would be clearly visible through the singlet. The door opened and Nyota strode in as if she owned the place before hugging her quickly.

"C'mon Emma, we're having a group meeting. Kind of an intervention" Her voice was solid and strong and Emma begrudged her and Spock getting together for the first time; he had taught her how to be steady and calm.

"Spock has to stop teaching you how to be steady as the beating drum. I'm not going _anywhere_ looking like this" Even she knew she sounded pathetic, and that Nyota would have her out of the room in less than half a minute.

"Emma, Nikolai really screwed up a storm, and now we need to tally up the damage. Pull on a jacket... or a shirt before I do it for you" Nyota grinned and Emma found herself smiling slightly back at her, before she pulled out an oversized hoodie and shoved her feet into mid calf high ugg boots.

"How terrible do I look?" she asked with a small smile, knowing the answer Nyota would give.

"Absolutely gorgeous. Now, let's go" Nyota grabbed her arm and dragged her outside where Gaila was waiting.

"Oh, man, we should _so_ take you out clubbing right now. You _scream_ sex goddess" Gaila told her with a smirk. Nyota laughed her feline laugh and the two girls looped an arm through Emma's, leading her off to Leo and Jim's room. Emma felt sick as she walked through the door and waited for Bones to tell her to get out. His voice never cut through the silence, instead Jim's laughter did.

"Emma, babe, that's an awesome look" Emma sent him a quick smile before looking to Bones, who was laying on his bed, a pillow over his face. His pyjama bottoms were low on his hips, and Emma had to look away quickly and order her mind. She shut off her nose, breathing only through her mouth and she made sure her eyes never looked to Bones on his bed. She sat on Jims' bed so that she couldn't see him.

"Can we just get this over, before I die of embarrassment?" she said, her voice shaking. Her cheeks flushed bright red again and she curled her legs under herself so that she was sitting in the middle of the bed, completely covered by the hoodie.

"Oh, embarrassment, you can die of that, but you can't die of intense shame about your actions?" Bones growled, his voice ripping into her and making her wince, as if in pain.

"Bones, back off, alright?" Nyota told him gently, sending Emma an apologetic look.

"No! I won't back off!" He yelled, tearing the pillow off his face and standing up, and glaring down at Uhura before he turned to Emma, still glaring.

"I think Bones and I should settle this on our own" Emma hissed, the anger inside her bubbling up as she told everyone to get out. Once the room was clear, she stood up too.

"How _dare_ you be angry at me! You have _no_ claim on me, you ain't my man, or my father, or my _brother_. So what is it Bones, huh?" She snarled, squaring her shoulders and pulling up to her full height, still a head under Bones.

"No claim to you?! No _claim to you_?! I'm one of your _best friends_, Emma! I think that means I have a say in who you date and who you don't!" He scoffed, crossing his arms and glaring down at her. She barely noticed that his voice was heavily accented again.

"Oh, bugger off Bones. Just because you're my best friend don't mean shit if you don't act on it" She stood back and waited for the damage to settle in.

"Don't act on it? What the fuck does that mean, huh? Are you implying that I don't care?!" He spat, his voice loud and demanding. She smirked to him, a sadistic, hungry smirk.

"I am. If you cared, why did you leave last night?" She asked, her voice dangerously low. He stopped glaring and instead his face went blank.

"I left because I didn't understand how you could stand to be around him. I left because that relationship crashed and burned, and you were acting as if it meant nothing" His voice was blank, except for the accent that shone through.

"I act. I perform. I am constantly portraying emotions I don't feel. I am but a puppet to be moved by another. I sit in the stands, waiting, eternally waiting for the one I can never have" Her voice was bland, soft and restrained as she quoted her favourite author. Her face was flushed, her nose bright red, as if she were about to cry. Bones was confused for a second, before she continued.

"Bones, my relationship went up in flames and it burned me to the core. The only man I could talk to for months after that ordeal was my father. I lost all respect for men until I met you and Jim on that stupid shuttle," she took a deep breath before snarling again, "and you were already broken and beaten. Well you know what?! Good work to her, whoever she was! Your relationship went up in flames and it burnt you to the core, didn't it, Bones? She fucked you over and forced you into a place you didn't want to be. Well guess what Mr. Grumpy. Life is screwed over. What did you leave behind? A son? A daught-" Bones threw her up against the back wall and she laughed in triumph.

"Don't. You. _Dare_. Say. Another. Word" He growled, his arm along her neck, his whole body shaking in rage. She grinned sadistically at him, waiting for the next hit, the next insult, the next demand. It came in the most unexpected form; a kiss. A hard, demanding kiss that bruised her lips, even as she pushed back with them. His arm went from in front of her neck to the small of her back, pulling her to him forcefully.

"That's it, Leonard. Let it all out. Show me how much it _hurts_" Her voice was a hiss, and she had set face aggressively, breath coming out in pants. Her heart was thundering a mile a minute under her ribcage and she was so excited she couldn't help herself, she pushed him back so that her aggression matched his. She sucked at his neck and along his shoulders, nipping and moaning as he put his hands under her hoodie, lifting it up. She grinned at the sharp intake of breath when he saw what she was wearing. He pulled her head up and claimed her lips again, dipping his tongue into her mouth when she moaned. He was barely aware of the fact that he was taking steps backward when he tripped over the bed. He pulled back in surprise and she laughed heartily before claiming his lips again, her hands slipping under his shirt and pulling it off easily. She pulled back so that she could take in the sight of his stomach, groaning when she did. He grunted in response and took her shirt off, drinking her in for a moment before claiming her lips again.

* * *

It was an alien feeling, waking up to the feeling of someone's arms wrapped around her waist. Sure, she had woken up to another body next to hers, sometimes they were face to face, but never before had she woken up in a spooning position. Somehow, that thought made her feel warm and whole and... loved. She blushed furiously as the memories of last night flooded back, and she begged her brain to tell her she had been drunk and not actually done that. The act itself, sure, but what she had said before hand? He was going to think she was a monster. She cringed when he pulled her closer and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Good morning beautiful" His voice was soft and thick with amusement. She kept her eyes closed, not daring to look at his face just yet.

"Everything I said last night, I didn't mean" She told him, waiting for him to remember and storm out. Instead, he did the unexpected again, and laughed.

"You mean when you said my name? Wait, _moaned_ my name? Or the bit where you _demanded_ more?" He placed a quick, gentle kiss on her shoulder, gently coaxing her over so that she was facing him. Her eyes remained closed even as she let him flip her over.

"No. The bit before that. Where I insulted you. I didn't mean any of it" He touched his lips to hers in the lightest kiss she had ever received, before he moved to her eyelids, kissing them just as lightly.

"I threw you up against a wall and bruised your back. I think I should be the one apologizing here" He sounded very, truly guilty. She pulled one eye open and saw, to her surprise, that he was blushing.

"Hey, I provoked you. I'm sorry. Besides, My back doesn't hurt" He smiled sadly at her and pressed lightly on her back, cringing when she winced.

"Doesn't hurt until you touch it" She grinned at him before kissing his lips and opening both her eyes.

"It was worth it," she gingerly put her fingers on his back, feeling the scratches there, "I did a number on you as well" He smiled more easily now.

"It was worth it" He told her, kissing her again; still soft but much more... passionate. She sighed in content when he pulled back. She snuggled her head closer into his neck and grinned when his fingers lightly traced the angel wing on her left shoulder blade.

"You found that one, hey?" she asked, knowing that if he had found that one, he had found the other one. He moved his free hand to the back of her right hip, answering her unasked question.

"And the more discreet one. Jim knew about it before I did, though" She pulled her head back slightly to confirm that he was pouting. She grinned.

"I told him, yes, because he asked if I had any other tattoos once he saw the angel wing. The bluebird on my hip is why he's been calling me bluebird. I'm surprised he kept it a secret this long" She snuggled back into him and kissed his neck lightly.

The door opened and Emma stuck her head over Leo's shoulder to see Jim saunter in. Leo turned his head and looked at Jim, who hadn't yet seen Emma.

"Hey Leo, hey Emma" he said without looking up from his clothes drawers. It took him a few moments before he stopped and slowly looked up again, looking very confused.

"Leo. Emma. Naked. Sharing a bed. Did you two finally do it!?" his asked, a grin spreading over his face as he moved to high-5 Bones, instead getting one from Emma.

"Yes, Jim, we 'did it'. How long have you been thinking we would?" Emma asked him. Bones joined in her curious look even as he pulled the blankets up to cover Emma's shoulders.

"Oh, you know. We've been waiting since day one" Gaila told them as she walked in, grinning sweetly, carrying a pile of Emma's clothes; what she had picked, Emma wasn't sure.

"What is this? Look at Emma naked day? Get out, get out!" Bones ushered them lightly, not showing any shock at Gaila's answer.

"Actually, Bones, I came to see you naked" Gaila told them with an expectant grin, which turned to a scowl when Emma growled fiercely at her.

"Gaila. Out. _Now_" Bones chuckled at Emma, before motioning for Jim to grab his stuff and leave. Gaila put her pile on Jim's bed before slipping her arm through Jim's and exiting. When they were alone again, Emma settled back down, facing Bones and kissing him lightly again.

"So, what did you want to do today?" He asked, his arms wrapping around her easily. She grinned up at him, knowing what she wanted to do.

"Other than 'do it' again, I think showering might be nice"

"Mmmm. Which one first?" Bones asked with a smirk, kissing her quickly.

"I think you know" She told him, kissing him back with a grin.

_Hope You Had As Much Fun As I Did. Can't Wait For The Next Ones XD Jay._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N. I know, its been a while. IM SORRY. I've been really busy. I'm hoping this isnt too long... I like this length and nothing particualrily intested happens... but, yeh. The next one is DRAMATIC! how do I know? I accidentally started to write that one before i posted this one. Well, I'll have to finish that one (give me a few minutes) then I'll post it OK? YAY_

_I dont own star Trek ; If i did, i'd be bathing in love and love and money. Oh, and I'd be bathing with Karl Urban whose SUCH a babe. Even hotter than that guy at my new school who I'm kinda crazy about XD_

_I love you all ; especially Aussies !! and especially those who reveiw.  
Jay._

When Jim came back, two hours later, Bones and Emma had showered and Bones was back to his lovely, grumpy self; Emma loved that about him. They had picked a spot on the lawn in front of the stairs leading away from the classrooms and towards the dorms, Uhura, Gaila and Jim tagging along through what felt like an abandoned campus; since the sun was up most cadets had chosen to head out to the beach. Uhura was sitting with her legs folded neatly under her, Gaila was stretched out next to Jim, leaning back on her arms with her legs out in front of her, giggling at the fact that Jim was her mirror image. Bones had sat down like Jim, until Emma had sat on top of him; he was now sitting cross legged with her leaning her back on his chest. He wound his arms around over hers, and covered her hands with his in a light, casual way; she rolled her eyes at the way her heart squeezed at the simple gesture.

"Hey, have you got a shift in the infirmary?" she asked him, not bothering to move.

"I have graveyard tonight. A few hours tomorrow. Why?" His voice was back to normal, and he seemed as if he didn't want to show too much emotion around others; something she understood completely.

"Just curious, wondering if we were going out tonight" her voice lifted across to the entire group, and they all looked to her, Jim and Gaila nodding while Uhura shook her head.

"I can't tonight. I'm... I'm seeing someone" Uhura's voice held barely controlled excitement. Emma rolled her eyes; she had been dating Spock since the end of last year and had been flirting with him since half way through last year. Gaila, Jim and Bones knew nothing of the couple, but Emma had walked in on them once; luckily the only thing missing had been Spock's shirt. And that sight hadn't been too bad, although Bones was a much, _much_ better one.

"Ooo!! Who, who, who?" Gaila asked before giggling. Uhura rolled her eyes lightly and poked her tongue out to Gaila.

"No one you know. It's nothing, really, just a date with a guy" She passed it off easily, before changing the conversation to where the group was going that night.

"I'm out too, guys, I have homework piled up to my ears" Emma told them, knowing they wouldn't believe her and not caring. She pulled her hand out from underneath Leo's and started to play thumb wars with him, grinning and chuckling when she won, until she realised he had let her. She hit him on the chest before demanding a rematch. This time he won, easily, as his thumbs were bigger. She pouted before grinning and kissing him on the cheek; his cheeks went slightly pink and she kissed him again. He growled, pulling her down so that she was laying on top of him on the grass, and tickled her mercilessly. When she couldn't breathe he stopped and chuckled as she fought hard to get her breath back.

Jim and Gaila just grinned at each other; they would finally have time to themselves.

* * *

Leo and Emma had both walked to the infirmary when his shift was about to start, and they had kissed passionately, before Leo convinced her to go back to her room and get some sleep. Emma had tried, she really had, but in the end she gave up. She had rolled over to check the clock – 12:56- and sighed. She shoved her feet into her ugg boots, and headed out to the infirmary. She forgot about the fact that at 1 in the morning, it would be pretty damn cold, so, in her shorts, she had to run across the lawn just so she wouldn't freeze. When she finally, _finally_, arrived at the infirmary, she urged the automatic door to shut behind her, yelling at it from a good 10 feet away. Bones had come out, holding his coffee mug and smirking like an bat outta hell. Emma was still shivering when the door had slid to a close and glared at him, shoving her hands into her armpits. Leo put his coffee down on a table and held his arms open, inviting her to steal his warmth. This was routine; Jim and Emma often hid in the infirmary after pulling a prank in the middle of the night and Emma often froze. She had informed him long ago that she loathed the cold, though had never explained why, had told him that she felt like a child when she explained it; she _hated_ being made to feel like a child, almost as much as she loathed the cold.

She quickly snuggled herself into Leo's ready arms, shivering and looking up for a kiss which he gave eagerly. _That_ certainly managed to heat her up. She pulled back before it could progress into something more serious.

"Doctor, I think you're taking a bit too much interest in my lips. Shouldn't you be looking after my frozen legs, or my insomnia?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Mmm, wouldn't want to be accused of shirkin' my duties" He told her, before enveloping her back into a warm cuddle. He led her back into the office, setting her down on the most comfortable couch in the state; the doctor who was in control of the infirmary had inherited it from his mother, who had died quite a few years ago. Leo set her down and covered her in a blanket.

"Now, sleep. I have to be alert for work, so if you need me, I'll be just outside that door" He kissed her forehead, and set up his chair just outside the doorway, before resuming his study, sipping coffee every now and again. She fell asleep within minutes, glad for his company.

He carried her back to his room when his shift was over -4 am- and was glad for the two and a half hours sleep he would get, especially if she was next to him.

* * *

Emma was sending Jim her best wishes all through Psychology and Advanced problematic engineering solutions; often called apes. She had spent the day before hanging around with Jim and Bones, laughing when Jim had told them that he was off to 'study', which Emma and Leo both knew was his way of saying he was off to find Gaila, his latest toy. When the chime finally sounded, she rushed out of the room, sprinting down to the Kobayashi Maru test room, sliding past the door before skidding to a stop as Uhura and Bones both came out grinning. Bones slid his arms around her waist before lifting her up and spinning her; grinning in disbelief the whole time. Jim sauntered out with an overconfident grin –even more than usual-. She stared in disbelief, could he have really beaten the test?

"You didn't?" she questioned, he pecked her forehead.

"I did" he told her with the biggest grins he had ever seen.

"No freaking way! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" she laughed and kissed his cheek lightly.

The noise suddenly stopped when an announcement came over the speakers place throughout the corridors.

"All cadets are to report to auditorium 3 immediately. Repeat, All cadets, report to Auditorium 3, immediately. Any cadet who is ill or injured, must contact a teacher, admiral or commander"

"Bluebird to Jim ; _Oh shit_" Emma remarked smartly.

* * *

Emma took her seat next to Bones, and knew automatically that this session was because of Jim and that he was in some _serious_ trouble.

"_What did you do?" _she hissed at him.

"What did _I_ do? That is not fair, and you know it. How many pranks have _you_ been a part of?" he told her playfully, knowing full well that this wasn't the end of the world; she glared at him for not taking this seriously.

"Yeah, well, whenever I was with you, we never got caught. Now we know who the brains of the operation was at least" she huffed at him before the room quieted.

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. James T. Kirk, step forward" Admiral Barnett spoke, his voice carrying enough for the whole dead silent room to hear. Jim stood up and walked calmly down to the podium and Emma cringed, ready for the worst. She bit her lip and sent Leo a worried look, even when he took her hand.

"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to the council suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to Regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin, sir?" Emma wracked her brain, searching for 17.43... didn't it have something to do with cheating?

"Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly?" Jim spoke calmly, if slightly confused. _He's wondering how he got caught, the bastard._

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw movement, and realised that Spock, who was standing, was Jim's accuser. She groaned and sunk a little lower in her seat; Jim was in serious trouble.

"Step forward please," Barnett asked Spock, "This is commander Spock. He is one of our most... _distinguished_ graduates. He has programmed the Kobayashi Maru test for the last 4 years." Emma loved the way Barnett hesitated at 'distinguished', "Commander?"

She had never disliked Spock until that moment, and only then, it was because he had gotten Jim into trouble. She watched their argument go back and forth like a tennis match, until Spock spoke out of line and Jim looked hurt, even if it was well covered by a rather plain mask that anyone would have after just being insulted. There were whispers as people turned to the person next to that 'can he say that?', 'should he have said that?' and 'kill him Jim' were muttered everywhere.

"I of all people?" He ask, waiting for an explanation.

"Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?" Spock was matter-of-fact, cold and robotic. Emma sent Uhura a dirty look; Uhura who had done Emma's hair this morning to mirror her own. Uhura caught it and winced back; She didn't want this to happen.

"I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test" Jim was back to mocking Spock, or trying to.

"Furthermore, you have failed to divine the purpose of the test" Spock told him.

"Enlighten me again"

"The purpose is to experience fear, fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear and maintain control of oneself and ones crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain" Spock finished, and Jim looked as if he were searching for words.

And Emma knew. She _knew_ that his mind was cloudy with hurt and rage. She _knew_ that he couldn't think straight; he was torn between staying calm and collected or throwing a punch. He looked around on the ground for a little bit before looking up to Leo and herself; she sent him a confident smile that made him wince slightly.

"Excuse me, sir" a new voice, someone Emma didn't bother to look at; she was staring at Jim.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan. With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hanger One immediately. Dismissed" And just like that, it was over. Every cadet stood and filed out while Emma and Bones headed down to Jim.

"Who was that pointy eared bastard?" Jim asked them, Emma tried a weak smile while Leo his him on the arm comfortingly.

"I dunno, but I like him" Leo told them sarcastically, although Emma wasn't too sure that it was completely sarcastic; even if Bones was partially xenophobic.

Emma dragged them out to find Gaila and Uhura, and when they finally caught up to them, Uhura made them keep walking so they wouldn't be late.

"Alright, Jim, calm down," his face was all solid and he looked as though he was about to find Spock and try to beat him to a pulp, "and everyone, good luck" Gaila reached under her collar and pulled off a necklace that no one had ever seen before; it was a silver chain with two silver angel wings hanging on the outside of a little diamond.

"I want you to look after this. It'll give you good luck. I have a bad feeling that you're going to get hurt" She blushed a little bit – a rarity for Gaila- and smiled when Emma clipped it onto her neck. When the small group reached the hangar, they were split off; the three girls over to one commander and the two boys to another. Leo pulled Emma aside for a minute.

"Emma, I want you to take this," he told her, slipping the ring he normally wore on his pinkie into her hand. It was made of gold and had a small sapphire laid into it, "I'm not proposing or anything, but I want you to have it, in case something happens. I... I care about you" She looked up at him, truly touched and kissed him gently before slipping the ring onto her thumb; the only finger it would fit on. She pulled off the pendant she wore on her neck, a small vial of crushed white rose petal leaves, and handed it to him with another quick kiss. As she walked away, she looked over her should to see him thumbing the vial before he slipped it into his pocket; she hurried off to her group, missing Uhura's name and only just hearing hers.

"Avery, _U.S.S. Hood_"

_Hood_? She was assigned to _The __**Hood**_? Oh, this was _not_ happening. She had been in the top 5 percent of the engineers in her year level, consistently. She should have been on the_ Enterprise_. This was not happening. She approached the commander once the woman had finished the roll call.

"Uhh, commander, was there a mistake? Are you sure that I wasn't assigned to the _Enterprise_?" The commander sighed, rolled her eyes and rechecked the PADD she held.

"No, Avery. You're on the _Hood_. Now, get to" She told her with a nod before strutting off to her assignment. Emma growled and stomped off toward the shuttle she was meant to get on. She came up from around the back, but when she saw Kaya getting onto she shuttle, she knew, she _knew_, that she couldn't get on. She slammed her right fist into the shuttle several times, splitting the skin on the knuckles as she did so and not caring about the pain or the blood that slowly dripped down her hand. She growled again and hit her head softly onto the shuttle side, before shaking her head and heading back towards the second shuttle headed to the _Enterprise_. The commander out front was male, thank god. She pulled her skirt up higher and shoved her bleeding fist into her pocket, wincing in pain. She made her way over to him with a swagger that made her hips sway a little more and her whole body just that little bit more enticing; she pulled up right in front of him and gave a cheeky little smirk when he gulped.

"Emma, Avery. You're assigned to the _U.S.S. Hood_, this is the shuttle to the U.S.S. _Enterprise_" He told her, his voice slipping slightly.

"Oh, I know. It's just, well, I have an teeny, tiny problem," she bit her lip for a second, drawing his attention to her mouth, "I want to keep an eye on Captain Pike. He's the closest thing I've got to a father and he's really important to me" She told him with a small, innocent smile. He gulped again before coughing.

"Cadet, Captain Pike can look after himself. He doesn't need anyone, no matter how close, to look after him. Besides, he has lots of extra security to help him in case he gets into any trouble" She bit her lip again and started to play with her hair, drawing attention to everything that might help her out.

"I know. It's just," she got sick of the whole thing and rolled her eyes. She looked up and down the aisle and when she saw the coast was clear she looked back to him, "I really want to be where the action is and you're in my way" She threw her elbow out and caught him in the jaw, and covered his mouth with her hand so his cry couldn't be heard. She threw him to the ground, grabbed his PADD and hit him on the back of the head as hard as she could with it, knocking him out. She dragged him under the shuttle quickly, before heading up the stairs and taking a seat up the front, away from the door. The seat beside her stayed empty, and her heart beat accelerated.

If someone found his body, she was dead meat.

When the shuttle started to take off, she breathed a sigh of relief and grinned crazily as her heart settled back down.

_A/N Love it? Like it? Hate it?_

_I liked this chapter, but not as much as the next one!!_

_lots of love, Jay._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/n. Ok, This shouldnt have taken this long, I know. But it did and I'm sorry. D: forgive me? ANOTHER CONTEST!! if you can name the song WITHOUT using google, I'll include a memory of Bones partially naked. Wow.... how very very different for me ; bribery. WOW._

_Anyway, Enjoy. AS normal, I DONT OWN STAR TREK YET!!! ggrr... If only i could own Karl Urban :D what fun times we could have :D  
Love, Jay._

When her eyes laid on the _Enterprise_, she was frozen in awe ; god, she was a beautiful ship. She was all white and pretty and unmarked; Emma didn't want to see her with a scratch on her.

And then the shuttle landed and everyone hopped off, and she quickly hurried down to the engineering rooms, heading toward Chief Olsen, keeping her hand in her pocket so no one would see the blood and direct her to med bay, where she would be caught.

"Hey, Olsen, they stuffed up and didn't put my assignment on here. Where do you want me?" She asked casually. As soon as she got her place and started to work, she would be safe.

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me?" Olsen had a thick Australian accent and Emma grinned at his grin, "I'm glad they gave me you. The rest of these cadets are hardly worth it, the greenies. Wish I had Gaila too, but you'll do wonders, mate. Would you mind sitting in with the engine and watching her for me? It'll be a great help, mate, and you can send one of the cadets there to me. You know what to look for, so you can take charge or do what you want in that room" He grinned to her and she nodded eagerly, before heading off to do as she was told, avoiding anyone who might tell her to bugger off. She was almost safe when there was a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around.

"What're you doing here? You were assigned to the _U.S.S. Hood_" Pike snarled at her, dragging her off to the side. She smiled slightly to him, trying to mellow him out; he glared at her.

"Look, I just wanted to be near you. I wanted to be on this ship. The _Hood_ doesn't need me, really, it doesn't and Olsen can use me. I won't make a fuss or a mess, I'll just keep the engine in good order for you" She beamed at him, a last desperate attempt to mellow him out.

"What would your parents say if they had heard you were disobeying orders and putting a ship at risk?" He hissed at her, and she felt her anger rise; she glared at him, pulling up her attitude.

"My parents, my _parents_? I don't _have_ any parents. You're the closest thing I have to a father, Chris, I thought you knew that? And seriously, not having **one** person is not putting them at risk" Chris sighed and frowned at her.

"Yes, it is. But, seeing as you're here and I have to get back up to the bridge, I'll deal with you later. Keep safe, please, for my sake" He kissed her forehead lightly and walked away before she huffed and cleared her head of the anger. She then ran to her post.

She missed Bones and Jim as they slipped past her, too caught up in the kafuffle to notice.

* * *

When she had gotten to the engine and sent a rather ill looking cadet back to Olsen, she looked around and was unnerved to find that most of the room was greenies, and the three left over were people who weren't cadets. The older looking female looked to her impatiently.

"Look, us three've been on here quite a while, so we have a system. While we work, we play music. You want a song added onto the list, add it yourself. There's no skipping unless it's a really terrible song, and it's a majority rules system. Understood? Good" She didn't even wait for an answer before hitting a button on the screen. It took Emma barely a second to recognise the song; Reach out and Touch Me by _The Tairyn_. It was a rather popular song from about two or three years ago, and an easy song to dance to, and Emma soon found that that was what this group did; danced while they worked, with three people monitoring the engine, two people standing at the side stations and the three remainders standing on the stations around the other side of the engine and monitoring the energy outflow and the massive requirements, double checking everything to make sure it was all alright.

Emma was assigned to the back stations, with one of the more experienced engineers and a cadet who looked cocky and overconfident.

"Name's Munder. You can call me Munder" Munder, a man who looked to be about 35, told them both, waiting for their response.

"Troy Paravotti" The cocky cadet, who looked to be about 27 told them with a grin and a wink at Emma.

"You can call me Bluebird. Wink at me again and I'll kick your ass, and get McCoy to give you a medical examination" she threatened and he stiffened before turning back to his station. Munder laughed heartily and motioned for a high five which she gave with her good hand. Paravotti excused himself and a minute later, he sent in one of the cadets who grinned at them both before introducing herself.

"Hi, I'm Ranaya" she smiled innocently before waiting for their names.

"He's Munder, I'm Emma" Ranaya nodded before beginning to bounce to the song.

Before long, both girls were singing with Munder on air guitar; it was like a mini party while they occasionally glanced out the window situated along the long wall that ran the entire length of the engine room and then glanced at their stations before continuining.

"All decks, this is Captain Pike, prepare for immediate departure" and the music was paused and they all stopped dancing, and started paying attention to their stations. The engines began to power up and everything started to prepare to leave.

"He's left the external initial dampeners engaged. Poor sod, he's gonna get it in a minute" Munder told them, pointing it out on his screen.

And then the whole ship just sat waiting, patiently. Emma stroked the walls as if the ship were alive.

"That's my girl, wait for the boy to catch up. It's ok, he's new, take it easy on him," Munder looked at her as if she were insane while Ranaya just giggled. "Hey, it's not my fault. First Ship Syndrome; it's a serious disease. Besides, she needs some loving," she turned back to the ship, "don't you girl, don't you?" she laid her face against the wall.

There was an acceleration as the ship went to warp and they all rocked a little bit, but otherwise it was incredibly smooth. As soon as everything was stabilized and simply running at warp, the music came back on, though now quieter; The girls were belting it out when the mission broadcast came on and they shut up.

Emma listened in interest, easily understanding through the Russian accent. She felt completely at home with the accent working rhythmically through her ears. The 'lightning storm in space' hit a chord in her mind, something she felt she should remember but couldn't.

"Sank you for your time" The boy on the screen said before the broadcast ended. Emma looked to her companions and made a face, before grinning. The music was turned up, once again, and Ranaya and Emma both started to crump at the same time, throwing their hair around before standing up straight and dancing back to back. Munder grinned as he watched Ranaya, his eyes tracing her body and laughing before glancing back to his station. They carried on for a few minutes, until red lights started flashing. The song changed, but Emma didn't stop to notice what it was now.

"Dropping out of warp" Munder told them, serious now that something was happening.

"We're on alert, something's up" Emma told herself, and her companions, as the ship dropped out of warp.

She twisted to see out the window and froze as the debris flying past confused her. It took her a few moments, and a torn piece of ship with the words 'U.S.S. Farra' on it, for her to realise what had happened.

Everyone was dead. Any cadet who wasn't assigned to the Enterprise was dead.

Bones, Jim, Gaila, Uhura. All dead. Her family was dead. All she had left was Pike.

"_In your head, in your head, they are dying"_

Anyone she had ever met over the last two and a bit years, anyone she had pranked, attended class with, sworn at, 'messed' with, flirted with was dead.

Someone grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, and she followed the arms up to Munder, who was talking. But Emma couldn't understand what he was saying; she could hear it, but her brain wouldn't translate.

"Bluebird, you have to get to work. You have to save the ship. You have to save yourself" Her brain translated, before Munder guided her back to her station. Her mind was fuzzy, and she blinked a few times before the world went back to normal speed. She had only been crazy for a few seconds, but it had felt like hours.

She quickly went to work, accounting for the damage that was happening as she worked. Olsen came crashing in and grabbed her arm almost painfully and dragged her out, setting her on a station that monitored all of the systems on the main deck and the by-passable systems on the engineering deck and told her to monitor them and make sure they were all doing what they were supposed to. The ship was barely steady enough for her hands to keep hitting the right buttons as necessary bypasses were allowed and made. And the ship hit something big, or something hit the ship and the alerts popping up went wild and Emma was flooded with the need to bypass this and fix that. The wounds on her knuckles reopened and she started to bleed onto the screen; she cleaned it off with her shirt and kept going.

And then the ship smoothed out and she was able to work properly. She switched places with a cadet who couldn't fuse two wires together –his hands were shaking terribly- and Emma patched them together before running to the next set of wires that need to be untangled and reconnected. Olsen tugger her up by her neck and grabbed her shoulders so that she faced him.

"I need you to take over down here. I've been called to go kill some Romulans and I'm putting you in charge. Got it?" She was stupefied, but before she could answer, Olsen was running off again and people were looking to her for answers.

"All right, SHUT UP!" she yelled holding her arms out to stop the assault of cadets, "I need everyone who needs to bypass systems to ask the cadet over there, and I need you," she pointed to one of the older crew members, "to help him. If you need help with something ask someone else first. I am your last resort for fixing stuff. I have to report to the bridge while _I'm_ fixing stuff so use the people around you! If you get hurt, you go to med bay. We Engineers have a rep for not going to the medical teams, but I want you to break that rep!" She yelled and half the cadets attacking her moved away with shaking hands and wild eyes. She dealt with the remaining few with patience and a grim smile; we need your code for this or we need to know how to fix this. She pointed to several of the older engineers.

"You, Radiation leaks, I'll take the worst one, divvy them out between you. Understood? Good"

She moved to the next thing she need to fix, throwing her hair out of the way – it had fallen out- and opened up a channel to the bridge.

"Bridge, this is Engineer Avery, reporting in. We have several radiation leaks in the lower levels and we're getting more and more reported by the minute. A lot of the cadets are in shock and are working with only half their head. We've had to bypass a lot of the safety systems, so please don't do anything stupid. What else do you need?" She asked smartly as she stepped into an elevator, heading to the first and biggest radiation leak

"How severe are the leaks?" Spock's voice was simple and computer like; Emma _knew_ hers was half panic and half **bitch**.

"Oh, you know, just INTENT ON KILLING PEOPLE!" She screeched before calming down and realising that this was _not_ the time to lose herself, "Sorry, Commander, I'm headed to the worst one now, and it's not terrible, but if we leave it open it will be. I've sent out some other engineers who can do the job to the other ones, and the flow of reports is stemming, but it'll be a while"

"It's Captain now, cadet. Pike is speaking to the captain of the _Nerada_" His voice made her blood run cold.

"_Chris is on what talking to who?_" she asked, and she felt herself sinking even as she said it; they had been under attack and now Chris was talking to the enemy... Oh god.

"_Captain Pike_ is on the _Nerada_, talking to Captain Nero" Spock told her, telling her off for using Pike's first name; she switched off her comm. The elevator stopped and she stepped off, headed toward the lower engine decks to stop the flow of radiation; a cadet met her at the entrance to the room with a hazmat suit. She quickly suited up, thanking the cadet who bandaged her hand while she pulled her suit on.

"How come you have the bandages?"

"Puri's last orders to us was to carry them everywhere. I'm a nurse in med bay" She said without breaking her concentration.

"Who's in charge now?" Her heart in her throat, she waited for the answer.

"I dunno," the nurse said with a shrug, "haven't been in med bay since Puri went up to deck 6; some cadet twisted an ankle on the sunlevels, and Puri ordered me to check it. Then deck 6... well, you know. Havent been to med bay since"

"Oh" was all Emma said in response, and the nurse smiled sympathetically, as if she knew that she had been searching for Bones. When Emma was fully suited up, she entered the room and saw immediately where the leak was; she hurried over to start repairing it and opened up her comm. unit to talk to Spock again.

"Ok, _Captain_, here's the deal. If Pike dies, I'm going to kill you for letting him go over there. But, right now, I'm fixing this bloody leak, so I need you to _back off_" she insisted as she worked on the leak. Her hair fell into her face for the millionth time and she looked around wildly, before snatching up a laser cutter. She pulled her hair back and moved the laser across it; throwing the pieces of hair into a bin. She didn't care that it was now a complete mess, with longer bits at the top and scattered around.

"Cadet Avery, Keptin Spock is no longer here," the Russian boy said, before he seemed to get distracted, "I can do zat. I can do zat! Take ze con!"

"Aye sir. Cadet Avery? Captain Spock and ensign Chekov are now unavailable... please hold?" the new voice, this time female, asked her uncertainly. Emma growled into the comm. before saying a few choice words and hitting it off. She finished fixing the leak and double checked radiation levels in the room before pulling her suit off to meet the nurse outside; who was no longer there.

And that's when she saw it. Through the window along the wall, she saw Vulcan and a small hole in the middle that got bigger and bigger, destroying the planet as it went. There were intermittent electric blue flashes that made her feel party responsible for the destruction of such a docile and peaceful planet. She didn't know how it had happened, or what was happening; all she knew was that it made her feel disgusted with whoever had caused it – she felt it was the stranger called Nero- and she felt truly... icky. Right to the core. And then it just pulled itself all into this one little blue light that blinked out as if it had been a monster and Vulcan had been its final meal.

It took her a moment to realise that she was crying and gasping; she wiped her cheek and coughed, pulling herself together.

Her PADD was going off with an alert forwarded from one of the cadets. She frowned, and worked her way into the systems' elevator camera to find Spock hugging Uhura, clinging onto her as if she were his lifeline. She looked away, until she heard Spock tell her that he didn't need anything. She looked to Uhura in pity; that's what happens when you fall in love with a man with no emotions.

She stopped watching once Spock got off, and she hurried off to the next leak. When she got there, she found the engineer who had gotten to this leak; Munder.

"Hey Bluebird. How you doing with the new commanding position?" Emma looked to her PADD ; they needed to repair the damage to subspace communications.

"Munder, I need you to go down and fix the subspace communications; I'll send a couple of cadets your way, but you'll be in charge. Thanks for fixing that leak, good work" Munder nodded, with a small smile.

"You need to get your hand actually looked at" She nodded.

"Bye Munder" she said quickly, getting an alert on her PADD; she ran to the elevator, headed to the escape pods were. She jumped out of the elevators and skidded to a halt where two guards were shoving an unconscious body into one of the pods.

"Hey! You can't do that! That pod has several problems with it!" The guards looked at her and shrugged.

"Captain ordered for Kirk to be off the ship, so we're getting him off the ship" She looked to the body and saw that it was, in fact, Jim.

"Kak ty smyeeshʹ! Ne prikasaĭtesʹ k etomu cheloveku! Get away from him!" She shrieked, pushing them back before slipping into a fighting stance. They both looked at her and laughed.

"Just get in with him, and fix it, we won't fight a girl like you" the larger one said; she punched him on the jaw.

"Get outta here, before I kick both your asses" The other one picked her up, wrapping his large arms around her, capturing her arms against her side so that she couldn't punch him and the other grabbed her legs so she was useless and shover her into the pod before shoving Kirk in there with her. She swore at them at the top of her lungs, berating them and threatening them all the while. Then the lid closed and there was a violent acceleration as they were separated from the ship.

Emma couldn't help herself; she cried. Even if Jim was alive now, they were going to die on some remote, lifeless planet. Damn it.

When they crashed to a stop on the surface, Emma wiped her cheeks and took a few deep breaths. She poked Jim several times before he even responded.

"Ugh," he groaned, stretching out in the small space and pulling his eyes apart, "nggg" Emma grinned at him.

"You never were good at waking up. Computer, where the hell are we?"

"Location Delta Vega, Class M planet. Unsafe. There is a Starfleet outpost 14 kilometres to the northwest. Remain in your pod until retrieved by Starfleet authorities"

"Oh you gotta be shittin' me. No way" Emma told the computer. She squeaked when Jim threw his arms around his and squeezed her so tight she couldn't breathe.

"You're alive! Oh thank god! I heard that you were assigned to the _Hood_, and I thought you were _dead_!" He pulled back and grinned at her, before unwrapping his hand and opening the door. He shouldered the bag full of survival gear and pointed towards the icy wall. Emma grunted and looked around for anything that she could use on her hands; when she saw nothing she rolled her eyes. Typical.

She clawed her way up, followed Jim exactly, trying to use where his hands had almost partially melted pieces of ice, but her hands were still torn up quite a bit; she didn't want to look at Jim's. When they finally got to the top, Jim looked around wildly, while Emma just lay down on the ice.

Jim growled and kicked at the snow, yelling swear words out to no one and cursing Spock and Delta Vega.

Emma lay on the snow.

"Emma, get up, come on. We need to get to that outpost, and it's 14 miles," when she made no response or movement he grinned, "C'mon, it's not that bad. Remember that time we had to run all the way across the city because we had tied that guys car horn to a brick and let the brick go?" There was still no response.

"Emma?" Jim started to get anxious, "Emma, this isn't funny. Get up. Emma!" He yelled, to no avail.

Emma wasn't moving.

_Ohh, how cruel I am. What a cliffy :D  
Did you like it? Tell me what you thought or what you want included in the next chapter ; i might put it in if it flows well :D_

_Jay._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N. Nothing to say, except that Tomorrow night is a new episode of Supernatural and I'm pumped. Enjoy this chapter, which reveals Emma is dead. Oops. Sorry, I'm rather pissed off coz my mother is making me do Science and I HATE science. I wanna be a TA. GRRR..  
_

_Love you all, Reveiws are love ; FAL/ Jay._

Jim dropped to his knees, ignoring the ice that damn near froze his knees.

"Emma? Baby girl? Get up, bluebird, _get up_!" he whimpered, nudging her shoulder; damn she was cold.

He checked her pulse, and sighed in relief when he felt one; but her hand flew up and threw his hand off her neck. She pushed herself up and took a few steps back, glaring at him furiously; pure anger burning in her eyes.

"Get. The fuck. Away FROM ME!" she screamed, and took even more steps back.

"Emma! What the hell? What's wrong?" Jim asked her, taking a few steps toward her.

"What's wrong?! What's WRONG?! Jim! They... I... I can't..." she looked ready to cry for a second before she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, "I don't want to talk about it... I can't talk about it... I...no, not yet" she told him, and he –thoroughly confused- rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ok... well, we can't stay here, we have to get to that outpost. Ok?" Emma nodded and listened as Jim told her to suit up; he searched through the back, but the only pants were way too big for her. She nodded in thanks as he gave her a jacket, and some shoes better for the snow, and sighed when he gave her gloves. They walked in silence, and Emma ignored Jim as he spoke into his little recorder, until Emma's ears picked up something in the distance; far behind them.

"Jim, what's that noise?" Jim turned around, and he squinted at it and cocked his head slightly until his eyes grew wide and he grabbed her arm and started sprinting away.

"Ohhh, ooohhhhhh!!" he yelled, and picked Emma up as she fell over. Emma looked over her shoulder as she ran before she screamed. The bear like animal had a nasty jaw and was catching up on them, _quick_.

"Oh shit, JIM! What did you do!?" and as Jim was about to respond, he tripped over. As he did so, another, larger monster came up from under the ice and clamped its jaw around the bear thing. Emma screamed, even as she pulled Jim up. The big monster threw the bear thing aside and looked to Jim and Emma; roaring in their faces as spittle flew _everywhere_. Jim and Emma looked to each other for a split second before screaming and running, the monster following them, hot on their tails. They both looked over their shoulders as it stepped around them, and then the ground fell out from below their feet and they fell.

They slid painfully down the cliff, more than once hitting each other, and Emma saw their pursuer look cautiously down the cliff before falling after them. When they landed, they had barely enough time to stop the spinning before they were on their feet again –slipping on ice- and running. Jim pointed to a small doorway like entrance in the side of a wall and shouted out to her.

"Haul that ass, Emma!" they flew into the cave and the monster crashed in after them, throwing its tongue out and catching Jim's foot.

"Shit, shit! Jim!" She didn't know what to do, so she grabbed his chest and held on for dear life.

And then, some guy with a fire on a stick was poking at the monster and threatening it. It withdrew its tongue and screeched before backing out to look for its next meal. The man waited for a while before turning around, Emma and Jim were both panting and gulping air. The man looked confused for a second before he spoke.

"James T. Kirk" now Jim looked confused.

"Excuse me?"

"How did you find me?" Emma and Jim both scrambled up, and Jim put his hands out in a non threatening way toward the man. Emma looked at him and saw that he was Vulcan, and that he looked quite a bit like Spock.

"Woah, Woah, How did you know my name?" Jim asked, looking very confused. Emma felt a bit angry at being ignored.

"I have been, and always shall be, your friend" Emma looked between Jim and the Vulcan.

"Wha?" Jim chuckled, "I don't know you" the Vulcan looked confused.

"I am Spock" Emma guffawed and mentally patter herself on the back. Spock turned to her as Jim spoke.

"Bullshit"

"Emma Avery. It is good to see you again"

"Hold up, you.. you... crazy old Vulcan claiming to be Spock. You don't know us, we've never seen you in our lives!"

"There is much to tell you. Please, this way" and he headed further into the cave. Jim and Emma looked to each other before following. Spock sat down near a fire and soon after Jim sat down, he started to talk, not bothering to tell Emma to sit; She chose to stand further away from the fire and to sit on an ice shelf, using her jacket to cover her butt from the cold.

"It is remarkably pleasing to see you again old friend. Especially after the events of today" Spock said, his voice sounding wise and yet still sounding like his counterpart back on the _Enterprise_. Jim stood up and looked slightly exasperated.

"Sir, I appreciate what you did for me today, but if you were Spock you'd know... We're not friends. At all. You hate me, you.. you marooned me here for mutiny"

"Mutiny?" Spock questioned. It was then that Emma realised that everything about the old man screamed Spock and she had no doubt that this _was_ an older version of Spock... she felt it in her gut.

"Yes" Jim responded, looking slightly sheepish.

"You are not the Captain?" Spock questioned yet again.

"No, no, you're the Captain. Pike was taken hostage" Emma nodded slightly before she realised what Jim had said and looked to him in alarm.

"By Nero" Spock said, and Emma shot off the ice shelf, flying toward the fire as Jim turned toward Spock.

"What do you know about him?" Emma asked, before Jim could.

"He is a particularly troubled Romulan" Spock told them, looking to Emma, before standing and walking toward Jim, "Please, allow me, It will be easier"

"What are you doing?" Jim asked, curious, and Emma stepped closer, sharing his feelings.

"Our minds, one and together," Spock placed his fingers on a specific point on Jim's face before addressing Emma, "I would show you also, but you would receive a headache, and you cannot afford to be ill just yet" Emma groaned ; damn her head for screwing her over, yet again.

"Fine. Leave me out of the loop," she dropped her voice before continuing, "bastard"

"129 years from now, a star will explode and threaten to destroy the galaxy" Spock spoke aloud for Emma's benefit, and she listened to his story with interest. She didn't completely understand, but she put the pieces together as he continued, as if it were a puzzle. She wasn't sure what to think, should she pity Nero, or hate him all the same? She knew she pitied Spock, both this one and the younger one; they had lost their planet, and the older one had lost everything.

"Because... I failed"

Jim's eyes flew open and he gasped for air, his eyes reddening in... sadness? Spock apologized and explained about the emotional transference.

"So you do feel" Jim stated, but Emma felt it was more of a question.

"Yes" Spock told them, as if it were obvious.

"Going back in time you changed all our lives" Jim said, and Emma became curious as to what he was implying; and then it all hit her. Electrical storm in space. Wanting to know about his other life.

His Father. He was the key to everything; Jim missed his father... Well, hell. Emma wanted to give him a hug.

"Jim, we must go. There is a Starfleet outpost not far from here" Spock began moving toward the exit to the cave, and Emma started to move with him.

"Wait. Where you came from, did I know my father?" and Jim was no longer a man... but a boy. He sounded so innocent and pure... as if this was a question of if there was proof of God.

"Yes. You often spoke of him as your inspiration for joining Starfleet. He proudly lived to see you become Captain of the _Enterprise_" Spock told him, and Jim smiled slightly.

"Captain?"

"A ship we must return you to as soon as possible" Spock turned to walk away after a few seconds, and Jim looked to the fire in contemplation. Emma moved toward him and enveloped him into the hug she had been wanting to give him for a while.

"Jim, c'mon, we gotta go. We gotta save Pike, we gotta save everyone up there" She coaxed him slightly and he returned her hug, before taking a step back and a few deep breaths. They headed out after Spock together, following him into the white.

* * *

When Spock finally came to a stop, Jim and Emma were both panting. Spock looked to something and Emma tapped Jim on the shoulder and pointed to the Starfleet base.

"Honey, We're home!" Emma said, with false cheer. Jim smiled slightly as he sighed; she still hadn't talked to him. In fact, she had spent almost the whole time walking behind him, while he was behind Spock. No one had spoken, but he wishes that Emma had at least joked or said something, anything, to help make the hike more interesting,

But, she hadn't, and Spock wasn't exactly what anyone would call sociable, even though this older Spock was much nicer.

They made their way down to the base in silence, and Emma and Jim both had to pull on the door, and pull it shut. The hallway they had entered was frozen, and still cold and Emma glared around her; _oh how she _loathed_ the cold_.

They heard some yelling, in an undeterminable language, and Jim looked confused.

"Hello!?" he yelled down the hallway. There was a clanging, and a small, child like figure ran toward them. Emma cocked her head when she realised it was an alien; an unknown alien to her.

"Follow me" was all he said as he turned on the spot and led them down the long hallway. Finally, they turned into a larger room –Emma was shivering but had pushed Jim off of her- and they stopped in front of a man who was lightly dozing. The small man hit his leg.

"What?" the man pulled the cloth from over his eyes and looked at them accusingly, "You realise how unacceptable this is?" the man's voice had a definite Scottish twist to it.

"Fascinating" both Jim and Emma looked to Spock and asked him 'what'?

"Okey, I'm sure yer just doin' yer job, but could yer not come a wee bit sooner? Six months I've been 'ere, livin' off Starfleet protein nibs and the promise of a good meal! And I know _exactly_ what's goin' on here," he pointed to them accusingly again, "Punishment, isn't it? Ongoing. For something that was _clearly_ an accident"

"You are Montgomery Scott" Spock said with a slight smile.

"You know him?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"Aye, that's me, yer in teh right place. Unless there's another hard working equally starved Starfleet officer around" The small alien spoke up.

"Me" he said indignantly and the Scotsman was eagerly on his tail.

"Get aff! Shut up! You don't eat anythin'! You can eat like a bean and yer done. I'm talking about _food_. _Real food._ But, yer here now, so thank you. Where is it?" he stood up, expectantly.

"You are in fact the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of transwarp beaming" Spock stated.

"That's what I'm talkin' about! How do you think I wound up here?! I had a _little_ debate with my instructor on the issue of relativistic physics and how it pertains to subspace travel," and he had Emma intensely interested and Jim thoroughly confused, "He seemed to think that the range of transporting something like a grapefruit was limited to about 100 miles. I told him that not only could I beam a grape fruit from one planet to the adjacent plant in the same system, which is easy by the way, I could do it with a life form. So, I tested it on admiral Archers prized beagle" Montgomery raised his cup and looked slightly guilty. Jim looked as though he only half understood what the man had said, while Emma was completely submerged in trying to figure out how he could have done it successfully.

"Hey, I know that dog, what happened to it?" Jim asked with slight accusation and surprise.

"I'll tell you when it reappears. I don't know, I do feel guilty about that"

"What if I told you that your transwarp theory was correct, that it is indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is travelling at warp speed?" Spock asked, with a slight smile on his face again; that almost there, but not there smile.

"I think if that equation had been discovered, I'd have heard about it" Montgomery looked slightly angry; what was the Vulcan suggesting? That someone had beat him to it?

"The reason you haven't heard of it, Mr. Scott, is because you haven't discovered it yet" Scott looked terribly confused, and he stood up.

"Wha- I'm sorr- Are you from the future?" He asked in disbelief, almost as an insult.

"Yeah, he is, we're not" Jim said, pointed to Spock, and then himself and Emma.

"Well that's brilliant, do they still have sandwiches there?" He asked, and Emma laughed.

"Mr. Scott, we need your help. I'm sure if you help us, we can arrange for a sandwich to make its way to you" Emma told him, grinning.

* * *

Mr. Scott, who Emma had already started to call Scotty, had easily bonded with Emma and Jim, and was even joking with Spock, as he listened to their situation and then guided them to the old shuttle.

"Well, she's a wee bit dodgy. Shield emitters are totally banjaxed, as well as a few other things, on youse go! So, the _Enterprise_ had had its maiden voyage, has it?"

"Does he ever stop?" Emma asked the small alien beside Scotty lightly, and grinned at Scotty's glare.

"She is one well endowed lady! I'd like to get my hands on her ample nacelles, if you'll pardon the engineering parlance," he winked at Emma as they made their way onto the shuttle.

"Except, the thing is, even if I believed you, right, where yer from, what I've done, which I don't, by the way, Yer still talking about beaming aboard the _Enterprise_, while she's travelling faster than light, without a proper receiving pad..." Emma blocked him out and instead turned to Jim.

"I'm sorry about earlier... in the snow? I just... I can't talk about everything right now, but you weren't the one who I should have lashed out at" Jim smiled sadly, before pulling her into a hug.

"It's alright. It's been a long day" She pulled back and sent him a sad smile.

"Very long day indeed" Spock told them with a small smile

"You're coming with us, right?" Jim asked the Vulcan.

"Yeah, Alpha Spock, you're coming with us up to our 'well endowed Lady', right?" Emma asked of him, grinning as Jim high fived her.

"No, Jim, Emma, that is not my destiny" his face was serious, and Jim looked hurt.

"Your.. He.. the other Spock isn't going to believe me! Only you can explain what the hell's happened!" Jim said, desperate somehow.

"You're destiny?! You can shove your destiny up-" Emma yelled, outraged.

"Under no circumstances can he be made aware of my existence. You must both promise me this" Spock said seriously.

"You're telling me that I can tell you that I'm following your own orders?" Jim asked, confusingly.

"Why? What happens?" Emma asked quietly.

"Jim, this is one rule you cannot break. To stop Nero, you alone must take command of your ship" Spock told them commandingly, looking to them both seriously.

"How? Over your dead body?" Jim asked incredulously, Emma grinned.

"Preferable not. However, there is Starfleet regulation 619. 619 states that any commanding officer who is emotionally compromised by the mission at hand must resign said command" Emma thought it over, before grinning.

"Genius! Way to go Spock!" Emma grinned wider, before giving Scotty a high five. She laughed as Jim squinted, trying to put it all together; the kid was smart but he had also been overloaded today, and he wasn't the engineer that Scotty or Emma was.

"So you're saying that I have to emotionally compromise you.. guys?" Jim asked, looking slightly pained.

"Jim, I just lost my planet. I can tell you, I am emotionally compromised," Spock told him gravely, "What you must do, is get me to show it"

"Oh, just like that? Get Spock to show emotion to anyone but Uhura, hah!" Emma chuckled. Spock looked to her and sighed, as if giving in.

"Emma, I feel that there is something I must show you. In my time, you are not an engineer, but a pilot. You came to me not long before you died, and begged me to remind you of something... I feel you need another reminder," he approached the girl and placed his fingers on the same spot as he had with Jim, "Be warned, this will cause a headache. Emma, you must understand, this is something that has happened to you, I am simply picking it up and showing you, this is not your other versions memories, but yours. I simply have an idea of where to look" She felt him enter her mind. He was as gentle as he could be, and she felt his presence; he felt like a small intruding cloud- he didn't belong but he wasn't hurting her-. He shuffled through some of her memories, movements deliberate and soft on her brain. He seemed to open up a memory further than the rest and she curiously focused herself onto it.

_Emma was in the gym about a week and a half after talking to Jim about his Mum, and she was focusing on what the monk in the Japanese hills had said; "Reaching out to grasp at the whispers of a man who will never be there for you will only cause one to believe that they have hope. You must question whether you are reaching out for the hope that caused you to stretch, or whether you are causing the hope to stretch out towards you" . She was wearing only a sports bra and three quarter leggings, her hands wrapped in protective tape and her feet stuffed into a pair of old, light weight joggers. She hadn't expected any company; there were only a few cadets who would come to this part of the gym when word was out that she was in there._

_And when Bones waltzed in, she wanted to groan and flip him off; tell him to go find his own hole to stop a meltdown in. Instead she threw a lazy wave over to him before hitting the bag with new vigour._

"_Hey Emma, long day?" he asked casually, throwing his stuff into her bag and setting down onto the weights._

"_Very. You?" Her voice was clipped and he noticed, but didn't give up._

"_Some bloody cadet thought it would be funny to get into a brawl with a local, and came in with extensive injuries. Idiot" Emma couldn't help herself; she laughed and Bones smiled._

"_I'm sure he did it just to anger you, Grumpy" She threw him a grin over her shoulder and poked her tongue out at his playful glare._

"_How long you been down here?" he asked a few minutes later, when he had worked up a sweat. Emma didn't really understand why he was in here, normally he avoided it here. She sighed before answering._

"_Since midday. Classes weren't... I... I've been... I couldn't sit still in class, so I decided... Oh, never mind. Since midday" Bones growled and rolled his eyes before standing up and spinning her around to face him; barely avoiding a black eye in the process._

"_It's seven. PM. You've been at that punching bag for seven hours?" he asked angrily._

"_No... I was on the treadmills for an hour, and I worked on the weights for a while... I've just been on the bag since 3" She grinned at him pathetically, trying unsuccessfully to mellow him out. He rolled his eyes._

"_Why? Why not just, oh I dunno, do something productive? Like study. Or get drunk, or shower?" She glowered at him._

"_I'm not getting drunk tonight. That's two days from now, remember, Uhura is supervising so I don't do anything overly stupid. And I can't study when you... When I have this crap in my head" She had almost said 'when you are in my head'. She glared at him, as if it were his fault he was in there._

"_What's the crap in your head then? Talk to me?" He asked, his voice pleading and she broke; she was putty in his hands. She sighed and he guided her to the seats on the side of the gym and squatted in front of her, inspecting her knuckles, which were probably bruised from four hours of punching bag._

"_It's just too crowded up there. There are too many uninvited guests in there, it's too loud. I can't focus while there's all this chaos. Being in here, or with you," she looked at him before quickly continuing, "Or Jim, Uhura or Gaila, it helps me focus and gives me peace. It just dulls my senses and I feel like a can breathe when you guys are around, or I'm in here or under the influence of alcohol. The noise causes headaches... I've been chewing on painkillers every day.... with six hour intervals..." she told him guiltily._

"_I know. I've been monitoring you, cleaning out your system in your sleep or when you're drunk enough to let me" He told her gravely and she was shocked. She hugged him._

"_You should have just yelled at me" she whispered. Bones pulled back and gave her a grim smile. He stood up and moved back to the weights, pulling his shirt off. Emma almost died when she saw his abs all sweaty and worked out._

"_Yeah, well, you don't need me yelling at you when you have a headache, now do you? Besides, what're friends for?"_

Spock dragged her out and Emma gasped, retching, as she came out of the memory. She sucked in air, trying to stop her eyes from overflowing.

"Damn you, Spock. Damn you to whatever your purgatory is" She whispered and he looked confused. Damn him for showing her that ; Leo was dead, and she was just going to miss him more. She couldn't _**deal**_ with this right now.

"Aye then, laddie and lass. Live or die, let's get this over with" Scotty said, with a small look to Emma. Jim and Emma took their places and watched as the small alien tried to go with Scotty, "no, go, you cannae come with me. Go on" Scotty lightly pushed him away, and Emma took a few deep breaths, ready for warmth and the comfort of the _Enterprise_, and all too eager to get away from that bastard Spock. Jim leaned over and looked at the Vulcan.

"You know, coming back in time, changing history, that's cheating" He said with humour.

"A trick I learned from an old friend" he replied with a small smile, before he pushed the button and stood with his fingers spread in a salute, "Live long and Prosper" he gave Emma a serious look, showing that he meant it to her as well. She gave him the bird as the white beams surrounded her.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N. Ok, killer headache from writing almost half of this chapter in one go. I know, nothing really happens, but we find out two people died, and Emma meets up with Bones. Ok. Uhh, Reveiws are Love. Love is good. Love makes the world go round. Love y'all anyway...._

_Love, Jay. (I don't own Star Trek, I'm too sucky. If It belonged to me, Karl Urban would be gettin' shirtless A LOT MORE!!)_

* * *

Emma looked over to Jim, quickly pulling her hand down. A smile spread over her face as she saw Jim look around in relief and joy; he really did love this ship. She looked around for Scotty, surprised she hadn't heard any witty remark lathered in his Scottish accent.

"Mr Scott!?" Jim yelled, followed by Emma's "Oi, Scotty!" in a poor imitation of his accent. There was three loud knocks from the large tank next to them.

"Mr. Scott, can you hear me?" There were three more knocks interrupted by a slightly louder clang, and then Scotty came out, flowing into the tube of water.

"Oh no... Oh, god, yebatʹ, yebatʹ, yebatʹ! poluchitʹ yego tam pryamo syeĭchas!! Jim!" Emma squealed.

"Hold on a second! Emma, I can't understand you!" Jim yelled as they ran, following Scotty down the pipes, desperately looking for ways to get him out, offering panicked words of comfort through the tube. Jim pulled off his jacket and looked up, following the tube and his eyes grew wide. Emma followed his eyes to where he was looking, whilst pulling her own jacket off and not watching her feet; she fell to the floor in a heap before pointing out the consul to Jim.

"Jim! Hurry!" Jim pushed several buttons and released the valve, dropping Scotty to the ground. Emma pulled herself off the floor and moved to Scotty, hugging him tightly.

"You alright? You alright!?" Jima asked of him, prying Emma off him so that the man could breath. Scotty took deep gulps of air and ignored Emma's sheepish apologies.

"My head's buzzin' and I'm soaked, but otherwise, I'm fine" Emma threw her arms around him again.

"Alrighty, come on, we gotta go!" Jim said as he pulled them up and dragged them off; by now Spock would have seen them and security would be after them. They followed Jim over and around, Emma lost her way and gave up on trying to remember how to get there.

They were caught up by security, and both Scotty and Emma were out of breath and so confused that all they could do was turn to Jim.

"Halt! Come with me, _cupcake_" The burly, rather unattractive security guard told them before leading them up to the command deck. When they got out of the elevator, Emma was staring at her feet; she didn't want to see this, didn't want to see where Uhura should have been, where her best friend would have wanted to be.

"Who are you?" Spock's voice, clearly recognisable, rang out over the silence and Emma worked hard not to look up.

"I'm with him" Scotty replied, unsure.

"He's with me" Jim explained. Emma took a deep breath and looked up, her eyes immediately connecting with those hazel eyes. They stared back in shock, as if thinking the same thing; _you were meant to be dead_. She moved to take a step forward, but cupcake grabbed her arm, holding her back. She didn't struggle, how could she? The man she was staring at was dead, how could she struggle when her brain refused to wrap itself around the _chance_ that the knowledge it had perceived to be the last truth she would ever care about, was wrong? He didn't move either, so they just stared, until Jim's shout broke the trance.

"You never loved her!" Spock roared as his fist connecting with Jim's jaw, forcing cupcake to stumble and release his grip on Emma, she didn't move. Her eyes, along with everyone else's, were trained on the weak struggles of Jim as he tried to survive against the Vulcan, until finally, Spock's hands came to rest on her throat, and Jim was choking as he lay against the control board. Emma gasped a little, and Scotty looked to her before looking back to the pair, and everyone waited to see what would happen. Emma tried to shout, but nothing would come out of her mouth, no noise would escape.

"Spock" a strong voice, from a Vulcan that must have come aboard while she had been on the ice planet, stopped Spock from killing the man Emma considered a brother. Emma's eyes flew wildly from the older Vulcan, to the younger, to Jim, to Bones, to Scotty before resting on her Leo.

She barely registered the fact that Spock had given up command as she took incredibly slow steps towards Leo; skirting around the back way to give the delusion time to fade away. She ignored Scotty's witty comment – she felt she should have laughed, so she gave a trembling smile that may have been mistaken for a silent whimper- and then _his_ voice broke through the silence.

"Well, congratulations Jim, now we've got no Captain, and no goddamn first officer to replace him" He had yet to see her moving around the back, relying heavily on the railing.

"Yeah we do" Jim stated, exhausted.

"What?" Bones huffed, confused and pissed off.

"Pike made him first officer" one of the boys in gold said and Emma didn't know his name just yet, and didn't care.

"You gotta be kiddin' me" Bones exclaimed and Emma chuckled, of course he was grumpy, he was Bones.

"Thanks for the support" Jim told him sarcastically.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing, _Captain_" the voice broke through her daze, and Emma stumbled over the threshold and threw her arms around Uhura, sobbing. Uhura was shocked for a few seconds before it registered and her arms wrapped around Emma.

"I thought you were dead, oh I thought you were dead!" Emma sobbed as Uhura hugged her and started to laugh. Nyota pulled back and looked at Emma, wiping the tears from the shorter, but slightly older girls' face.

"No, not dead, just too busy working to keep the ship alive, and a certain doctor" Uhura grabbed Emma shoulders and spun her around to face Leo, smiling as the girl took a deep breath and looked shyly at the doctor. Leo took two steps toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and just breathing in the smell of her.

"Emma" he breathed and she sobbed again, her arms tucked in against his chest before winding up around his neck and working their way into his hair, pulling his closer. When he finally put her down, he pressed his lips to her forehead and stroked her cheek.

"I like what you did to your hair" he offered with a small smile, and she laughed.

"How did you manage to avoid any and every scratch?" she asked with a grin, glad that he was unharmed.

"I've been dealing with everyone else's" he told her gruffly.

"That's my Leo, you're the smart one" she spoke softly, before kissing his cheek lightly. She heard a small cough behind her and looked around expectantly, tilting her head when she saw the young boy with the Russian accent... Chekov?

"Uhh, Cadet Avery, Engineer Olsen left you in charge before he died, did he not? And when you left, who did you leawe in your stead?" She raked her mind; who _had_ she left in charge?

"I... I didn't leave anyone behind. The last person I spoke to was Munder, but I didn't leave anyone in charge... I didn't _plan_ to leave"

"Munder? He got dragged into Med bay, only slightly conscious but still fighting it. Last I heard, he wasn't doing so well" Bones threw in helpfully, and Emma winced.

"What was it that you needed, Chekov?" Emma asked, already feeling the pull of the engineering decks.

"Zere are several things zat are not working, and we need a skilled engineer to fix zem" He told her, looking slightly sheepish; she sighed and nodded.

"Alright, I'll go down there now" She smiled to the boy and he turned and left. She turned to Bones.

"I want to have a better look at your hand first" Leo said, with an eyebrow raised, already holding her hand.

"Leo, I gotta go. I don't know who is in charge down there and it's making me nervous. You can deal with the hand later; it's still working, ain't it?" She tugger her hand away and kissed him quickly before lightly hugging Uhura, giving Jim a quick 'good luck' and stepping into the elevator, eyes locked on Bones until Scotty jumped into the elevator with her.

"So, you and the doctor, aye? Well, he seems to be a good lad, and I'm sure that if ye picked him he's at least good for somethin', then eh?" He sent her a knowing grin and Emma smirked back wickedly.

"Oh, Scotty, you have _no_ idea" She joined the Scotsman in a chuckle. The doors opened to one of the sub decks and Emma winced. The held the doors open with her body, but held her arms out to keep Scotty in the elevator.

"What's wrong lass? Apart from this mess" he motioned toward the calamity visible from the elevator.

"I need you to go back up to the command deck, get a uniform and tell Bones to send someone, anyone but him, down here with a hell of a painkiller. I'm going to need it _very_ soon. Oh, and Scotty, get a towel and dry off before you drip all over the floors" She ordered and closed the doors, sending him back up to the command deck and throwing herself into the mess, fixing it each little situation at a time. It only took the nurse three minutes to get to her, but by then it was too late; she had a killer migraine.

* * *

By the time she got word of their plan, it was too late for Emma to go up and give Jim a farewell hug; so late, in fact, that she looked out the window just in time to see them drop out of warp and arrive in the red dust that was Titan's atmosphere.

Her head was pounding terrible, and she had had to get Bones to order the nurse to follow her around with a bucket, because she had been throwing up quite a bit, and now she had the nurse worried and he wouldn't leave her side. The nurse's name was Brian, and he was 28, blonde and stunning. Had she not been falling in love with Bones, she would have been chasing him around wildly. He regretfully informed her that the nurse who had helped her out earlier; whose name turned out to be Ana, had died, as had Troy, the cocky engineer who she had met earlier.

She looked out the window for a brief second before looking to Brian.

"If they don't come back in one piece, I'm going to kill them" Brian grinned and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. What're they gonna do? Get shot by Romulans? Ha! Not likely. C'mon now Emma, you've got work to do" She glared at him before sighing and heading towards the engine room to make sure the people in there were doing the right thing, trying to be inconspicuous about rubbing her head.

* * *

She had just finished throwing up after checking the engines out, when Sulu's voice came over the comm.

"The Romulans have activated the same beam they used on Vulcan and dropped it into Earth's atmosphere; I think the two of you should get up here" Emma heard Scotty's reply before giving her own ; they couldn't do anything up there and they had stuff to do down here. She grinned when Scotty told her that he was coming her way. Her head pounded and she reached out for something, _anything_, to keep her steady; instead of a wall, she found Brian, who looked to her with a crease in his forehead.

"Emma, I know you need to work, but maybe you're taking too much of a load?" His voice was sincere and just a tad bit pitying. Emma growled at him, her lip pulled back over her teeth in disgust, even as she grunted in pain.

"Don't you pity me, Mr. Brian sir. Don't you pity me. You were a football player, weren't you? In high school?" When Brian nodded in confusion, she continued, "Well, I was a water polo player. I was a swimmer. I was a basketball girl occasionally, too. I had a boyfriend on the football team once... He never wanted to be a nurse... If you can't tell, Brian, I'm trying to distract myself, so how about we walk and talk at the same time? Give me your life story" She almost begged as she began to move off to sub space communications, which had been fixed, but she needed to check over them while she had time; before another problem popped up. Brian looked at her in confusion, before jogging a little to catch up to her.

"You really wanna know about me?" He asked, and when she glared at him, he continued, "I grew up in California, and my parents divorced when I was little. My mum was in Starfleet and my dad was a police officer, so I was always gonna be one of the two. My mum got custody, so I was a Starfleet boy, right from the grand old age of six. I played football through high school, and had a girlfriend for my junior and senior years, but I caught her cheating on me on my graduation night, with this guy from our rival school. I graduated, went to college, and at the age of 23, graduated that too. Then I went travelling for a year and a half and when I came back, I met my current girlfriend. We didn't start dating until my 26th birthday though. So, I enrolled into Starfleet the day we became official. All in all, pretty boring. What about you?" Brian talked while Emma moved around the subspace comm. deck, talking to engineers as she went. When Scotty finally caught up to them, Emma hugged him before pulling back sharply and hurling into the bucket that Brian had offered for her.

"Lass, what're yeh doing?! You cannae be down here if yer sick as a dog. Go up to yer man and have 'im fix yer" Scotty told her, rubbing her back as she leant over the bucket slightly, shaking all over.

"I can't Scotty, I need to be down here. Besides, why would I wanna miss all the action?" She asked weakly. Scotty rolled his eyes and looked to Brian expectantly.

"She can take pain medication in a few minutes, but not before hand. If we do, she'll be too close to overdosing. I gave her a shot not yet an hour ago, so wait a few minutes. But, Doctor McCoy said that if I have to drag her in, kicking and screaming, he'll be ready for her. He also said that Engineers were the worst patients ever. That you guys were always the one who had the most injuries and always the last to come up to med bay. He was thinking of sending some people down when he could to check you all out down here" Scotty thought about this for a moment, before rolling his eyes and sighing.

"Fine, but I want yeh to take it as easy as possible. I won't have yer bein' too sick" He offered her a small smile.

"Scotty, get back to that transporter room. You never know when they're going to need you" Emma told him weakly, her shoulder slumped. Scotty chuckled and hugged her quickly, before heading back to the elevator and the transporter room. Emma moved sluggishly over to the window, peering out at space, searching for the Romulan ship, before remembering Brian's question.

"I was the product of a one night stand, and a mother who didn't believe in abortion. Until the age of nine, I was passed back and forth every month. When I was nine, I put the foot down and said I wanted a foster family, and I lived with that family until I was sixteen. Then, I wanted out, so I moved to Russia for a few years. It's where I met my ex almost husband. Then I travelled the world for a while. And then I joined Starfleet. But, other than hating my parents for eternity and beyond, I'm rather boring too. Do you love your girlfriend?" She jumped a little as the ship went to warp, and Brian joined her at the window.

"Yeah, I do. I think I might propose soon... She's the one, I think. She's always in my head and she's just... perfect, in every way. She's beautiful, she's so smart and she's the nicest, gentlest person I've ever met. She's my everything. If my heart were a house, she'd be home" He finished, before blushing and looking to the ground. Emma grinned, and put her head on his shoulder.

"Battle's about to begin, we gotta get ready" Her voice was weak, and Brian shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the pain medication.

"Here goes nothing" He said quietly, and gently injected it into her neck. She hissed a little but breathed a sigh of relief as the medication started to work its way up to her head, washing out the pain and helping her to clear her head and start to think properly again. She yawned and grinned, looking to Brian and back to the window, where they came out of warp guns blazing.

"Here goes everything" She told Brian, beaming before she ran to the weapons station.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N. Ok, just a quick chapter. It's near the end, we're almost there!! HOORAHH!!! There's some major fluff at the end. It started of being all angsty and self questioning, but I didn't like it. It jsut didn't fit, so here we go... let's try this :) Reveiws??? They are my pride and joy XD_

_Love, Jay._She flicked her comm. over to Scotty's, and listened in and he mumbled the calculations and then sighed in disbelief.

* * *

"Nice timing Scotty!" Jim's voiced rang through to her ear as she looked down upon the cadets, standing prepared at their loaded weapon stations.

"Ha ha ha!" Scotty cheered, "I've never beamed three people from two targets onto one pad before!" He cried out in joy, and Emma barely heard the door slide open.

"Jim!" Even his voice made her tingly.

"Bones!" Jim said, gruffly, obviously hauling something heavy. Emma grinned as she realised that it was Chris. Chris was home, at last.

"I got him" Bones offered, and Emma pictured him shouldering the weight of a limping Chris. She felt her stomach twist at the thought of Chris, the closest thing she had to an actual father, being injured or worse. She heard the sound of a medical scanner, and chewed on her lip nervously.

"That was pretty good!" Scotty put out there, sounding as if he needed some more attention. Emma looked out her window, and pushed Chris to the back of her mind.

"Uhh, Scotty, I think we're gonna need you down here on the Engine level, _now_" she told him, nervous and gruff at the same time. Emma watched as the same blue light that destroyed Vulcan was starting up in the middle of the Nerada. She heard Scotty start to sprint and breathy curses flying out of his mouth.

"Emma, where do you want me?" Brian asked, as he waiting patiently behind her.

"I need you to go back to med bay. I'm fine now" Brian nodded and headed off to the elevator, and Emma hoped that nothing would happen to him.

"Aye, lass" Scotty told her breathlessly, between mumbles caked in Scottish accent. Emma ran from the weapons deck, all the way to the Engine room, and then out to where she could meet up with Scotty. The two set to work calculating the necessary safe distance from the singularity, and Emma looked to Scotty as they both realised they were two close.

"Follow me!" He hollered suddenly, and he sped off, Emma close on his heels. As they rounded a corner, Emma's comm. unit opened up,

"Kirk to Engineering, get us out of here Scotty" Jim's voice was calm, not slightly panicked, and Emma knew he was freaking out.

"You bet yer ass Captain!" Scotty yelled back, he stopped at a station, and checked it out, "Captain, we're caught in the gravity well, it's got us!" The noise was grating on their ears; a loud, splitting _groan_ that seemed to be emitting from the ship itself.

"Go to maximum warp! Push it!" Jim yelled back, not sounding quite as calm. Scotty sped off again, heading towards something and Emma ran after him.

"I'm givin' her all she's got Captain!" Scotty yelled, looking up, as if he could yell at Jim directly. They heard some cracking noise over their comm.'s and they looked to each other.

"All she's got isn't good enough. What else you got?" Scotty stopped and looked to Emma, thinking on his feet as the girl looked around madly for an idea.

"Eject the core! Detonate it!" She suddenly yelled, the thought popping into her head. The propulsion _should_ do the trick... maybe.

"Okay, If we eject the core and detonate, the blast could be enough to push us away! I cannae promise anything though!" Scotty put his hands to his head and scrunched up his face. They heard grass cracking and Emma's eyes went wide and her breathing stopped.

"Do it, _Do it_, DO IT!" Jim yelled, and Scotty and Emma sprinted off toward the core, both yelling for the people still in there to clear the area. They punched into the screen harshly, telling it to eject, and eject _now_. Emma held Scotty off pushing the detonate button for few seconds until it was just right.

For a brief second, the noise stopped and Emma felt the world just slow. Then she hit the detonate button, and everything came crashing back. The sirens screamed out, and the blast threw the ship forward.

Emma herself was also thrown forward, her body ramming into several pipes. She felt a few sudden bursts of pain, and felt as blood started to soak her shirt, and slide into her hair. She was barely aware of Scotty yelling out to her, instead pulling herself up and grabbing onto a pipe to steady herself. She took a few steps toward the consul, blinking back the darkness and starting when Scotty spun her around to face him. The blackness tugged harder, making her vision blur and the noises around her become one giant hum. She tried to focus on Scotty, but the blackness pulled her in and out, and Scotty was only miming to the noise of the hum. She giggled a little before fainting.

* * *

By the time she finally came to, she was being carried in to med bay, and the blood had caked into her hair. She looked up to see Scotty carrying her, his face worried and his hands stained red. She moved a little bit, and her side screeched in pain. She almost vomited. Scotty looked down to her and sighed in relief.

"I was scared I was goin' to have to explain thin's to yer lad for a second there" He grinned down to her, and carried her through the door, immediately getting the attention of a few nurses.

"I'll go get doctor McCoy" one nurse said, obviously one of younger cadets, who had no idea who the woman was. The other nurse cringed, and Emma giggled. Scotty carried her over to the bio bed that he was directed to, and the nurse who had recognised her started to scan her. Emma made a face before remembering she had business.

"Is Christopher OK? What about Munder? Do you know if they are OK?" she asked the nurse desperately.

"Christopher... Oh, Pike, of course. Yes, Captain Pike is stable. Munder... Munder is still critical, we aren't sure if he'll survive" The nurse cringed as she told her, worrying about the woman's condition; mental stress could add to physical stress. Then she heard Doctor McCoy.

"Emma! What the hell did you do to yourself?! Huh? Oh, jeez, Emma!" His voice was stern, exasperated and angry all at the same time, and he glared down at her as he came to a stop in front of her.

"You're voice is all angry, Leo. It wasn't _my_ fault anyway. The ship moved to fast, and the pipes just.. kind of... hit me" She tried, with a weak smile, and he started to cut her shirt – there was a large gash down the side- and only leaving her chest covered. Then he started to fix everything, making sure to keep out infection.

"Oh, good work Emma. You've broken a rib" He told her sarcastically, eyes falling down from the scan results to her and his heart squeezing a little bit as she took a sharp intake of breath.

"Uh huh. I'm sure. Leo, kiss me, would you?" she asked suddenly, and he looked down to her in confusion, before rolling his eyes and going back to working.

"You aren't going to _die_, Emma. You may have a mild concussion and a broken rib, but you aren't going to _die_" He finished her side and moved up to her head, finding the crack and fixing that too.

"Oh, I know I'm not going to die... I just want a kiss. Is that too much to ask?" She pleaded, biting her lip in the cutest way. Bones sighed, and, once he had healed her head, he leant down and kissed her. What he meant to be an innocent kiss, however, turned into a rather passionate affair as Emma wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in, using her tongue to caress his lips and coax him into kissing her more.

"Oh, I love winning" she said with a grin once he pulled back. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who said you won?" He pecked her lips lightly and told her to get some rest, before moving back to check on Pike. Emma waited until he had closed the door, and then got up, moving around the med bay, looking for Munder. She winced as she pushed herself a little too hard, and leaned against a table. She moved towards the back of the med bay, and found what she was looking for.

"Munder? Oh, Munder" She sighed, looking the sleeping man over. There was bruising over half his face, his right eye was swollen shut, and according to his chart, he had had broken right leg, a dislocated left shoulder, and mass internal bleeding in his lung. He groaned a little when she took his hand – his right to avoid the now relocated shoulder – and she cringed at the noise. His left eye opened to look at her, and his mouth twitched in what could have been a smile and he sighed in relief.

"Emma, thank god you're OK" He breathed.

"Munder, what happened to you?" She asked, her eyes getting cloudy. Munder tried a chuckle and coughed a little bit before speaking.

"I fixed the subspace communications, and then the ship lurched a little bit and I... I fell off the deck... over the railing" He chuckled a little bit and shrugged with a wince. Emma sighed in disbelief, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just fell over the railing. It happens every day. You stupid idiot, your meant to hold on to something. Jeez" she shook her head at him, and he tried a smile again.

"From what I heard, you fell out of the ship, so you can hardly talk" His voice got a little distant and he sighed. She smiled down at him, and pet his hand lightly.

"Ok, well, I'm going to let you sleep. I'll see you back on Earth, alright? G'night Munder"

"Night Emma" He mumbled, and his eyes closed again. Emma heard a groan from behind her and someone grabbed her arm lightly. Brian shoved a white patient shirt her way, to cover her stomach and she pulled it on with a wince.

"Come on, I need to get you back to bed before Doctor McCoy realises that you're not there" Brian told her, and she grinned to him, letting him lead her back to her bed.

Which Bones was sitting on. Looking very grumpy. Brian froze and let go of her arm, slinking away before he could be yelled at. Emma grinned sheepishly at the man sitting on her bed, PADD in hand, tapping it brutally as he worked on something. He looked up, saw Emma and growled. Emma raised an eyebrow in response.

"Why do you have to do the opposite of everything I say?" He asked gruffly.

"Not _everything_" She replied meekly. Leo raised an eyebrow, before sighing and patting the bed next to him. Emma hesitated for a moment, and just looked him over.

He looked tired. He looked _very_ tired. There were a few bloodstains on his uniform, and a few drops of blood on his hand, and even one on his forehead. There were light purple shadows under his eyes, and his hair was messy. She looked into his eyes, and sighed happily. She took the few steps closer to him, and instead of sitting next to him, she stood in front of him, and wrapped her arms around his torso, tucking her head underneath his chin. His arms wrapped around her and he sighed in content.

"Gaila is gone, isn't she?" Emma asked quietly, as the angel wing necklace pressed against her flesh. When Leo nodded, she felt a few tears slip out of her eyes and down her cheeks, and she pulled back to look up at him.

"It'll be Ok, Emma. Everything will be fine" He told her as he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. She pulled her arms back and pulled his ring off, holding it delicately in her hands.

"Do I have to give it back?" She asked, playing with it a little bit. Leo chuckled quietly before picking the small ring up and slipping it back onto her thumb.

"No. It's yours now" She smiled up to him, and he hopped down, lifting her up onto the bed, "Now, Emma, you really need rest. I don't care how much you think you don't need it. You will rest" He commanded.

"Is Chris OK? It's my last question" She smiled sadly and Bones sighed quietly.

"He's fine. He won't be walking for a while, but he'll be fine. Trust me. Now, go to sleep" He kissed her lips lightly and covered her with a blanket. He took a few steps before,

"Leo?" He groaned and turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Emma?" She blushed bright red and bit her lip a little bit.

"Iloveyou" She blurted out. Leo froze for a moment, before it hit him and warmth flooded his body, from his head to his toes.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Now, get some rest" He said with a grin.

_Le Fluff (L) Please hit the little reveiw button. Just a single word : like, love, hate. That would be awesome :D_


	11. Chapter 11

_Just a quick, cute little update. Sorry about not updating recently, I've been swamped by School. But, i'll start up again soon ^_^ Enjoy :)_

_Love, Jay._When Bones came back to her bio bed two hours later, she was throwing up over the side of her bed into a bucket held by a nurse who looked like she was going to join Emma in just a second. Bones jogged over to them, and quickly told the nurse to go deal with _anyone_ else. He lightly pushed Emma's fringe out of the way and grabbed a damp cloth within reach as she stopped hurling and lolled her head back. There were tear tracks down her cheeks, her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red.

* * *

"Sorry" she croaked, something she did whenever she was sick around him; he never did understand why. He shushed her and wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck, gently coaxing her to lie back on the bed.

"You gonna be OK while I go see if we have any painkillers left?" he asked quietly, feeling uncertain when she nodded weakly in response. He kissed her forehead lightly before beginning his search for painkillers; the ones that she liked; strong enough to work, but not strong enough to put her under against her will.

He checked every box three times over; all they had left was weak pain medication. He had nothing he could give her.

He shuffled back over to her, lifting her up lightly, and picking up her bucket – which some helpful nurse had cleaned out. He carried her into an empty intensive care room, and gently placed her down, grabbing a blanket to cover her. She lifted her eyelids and looked out at him with wide eyes.

"Nothing left?" She pleaded. He felt himself squirm under the gaze of her red rimmed eyes, and she knew that there was nothing for her. She whimpered, before sniffing and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Emma, the only thing we've got left is just the weak stuff" He gently wiped her eyes with his thumbs before cupping her cheek.

"It's OK. I can deal" she tried a weak grin, and succeeded in only making him worry more. She _never_ got two migraines in a row. He had dealt with more than a fair few of her migraines, and he knew that she was impaired by them quite a bit.

He looked down to her again and, had it been physically possible, his heart would have squeezed a little bit. She was a real mess, she really was. Her newly cut hair was sticking up all over the place and there were purple shadows under her eyes. She looked so tired, and the migraine had caused her face to pale, which made her look almost ghostly white. There was still some blood in her hair, on the back of her neck and along her jaw line from when she hit her head, and he hated how it looked on her.

She closed her eyes, and her eyebrows furrowed, and he _knew_, suddenly, that she couldn't deal with this pain. That she shouldn't have to.

The doors opened behind him, and Jim slid in very quietly, nodding slightly to Bones before slipping next to him and putting his hand lightly on Emma's arm, offering what little comfort he could. Her eyes fluttered open and her lips twitched in what was possibly meant to be a smile.

"Hey Emma girl. How you holding up?" He asked in a quiet whisper, smiling slightly back to her.

"I'm holding out just fine" She told him, her weak voice defiant. She huffed and winced before shivering a little.

"Alrighty, I believe you. All you gotta do is hold out for a few more hours, we'll be docking and then we'll get a shuttle down back to Earth, and they can stick you with all kinds of pain medicine" His voice was soothing, and the tension that should have been there was invisible. Bones didn't know how he did it, until he realised that Jim was simply a naturally born captain. He had control over his emotions, so that he could control everyone else's.

"Shouldn't you be back up on the control deck?" Emma asked, raising a shaking hand to her forehead and closing her eyes. Jim shot Bones a worried look, Bones winced.

"Yeah, baby girl, but you know Uhura, she can't stand me" he lied, smiling when she snorted.

"Ha! Yeah right. Spock probably beat you up again and you needed to get out, wimp" She coughed a little bit, and Bones eyed the bucket, but she waved her hand tiredly.

"Yeah, that's right baby girl, Spock beat up on me, and I chickened out" Bones knew he had slipped up almost as soon as Jim did.

"Jim, what's wrong? You never call yourself a coward" Jim winced and Bones glared at him. Emma struggled to keep her eyes open and took a few deep breaths before glaring at him.

"I just came down to see if Pike was OK. And to check on you" he admitted, pulling something out of his pocket and showing it to her. It was a small, purple wrapped chocolate. Bones shook his head, smiling and Emma sighed and tried a smile, a few tears leaking out. Jim unwrapped the chocolate and handed it to her, she popped it into her mouth and let it melt.

"Who's telling you that she's hurt?" Bones asked for her, and she sucked on the chocolate. Emma nodded weakly, trying to ascertain who was spreading the rumours. Jim rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Scotty's on the command deck. He's... ahh, he's telling everyone..." Emma growled weakly, before coughing again and motioning to the bucket, which Leo quickly offered to her. She glared at Jim from over the bucket, sweat beading on her forehead.

"You go back up there and tell him to shut his fat gob. That is an order, Jim" She hissed, before retching and throwing up into the bucket. Leo pulled her fringe back and rubbed her back until she stopped coughing.

"I'm the captain, so- oh, for Pete's sake. Fine, I'll go tell him to shut it" Jim grumbled and both Emma and Leo grinned.

"Good puppy, run along now" Jim growled at her before giving her a quick, awkward hug and heading out of the room. Emma wiped her mouth with a towel offered by Leo, and fell back onto the bed.

"You alright?" Emma raised an eyebrow before chuckling lightly to the man she loved.

"You look like hell, babe" she told him, chuckling yet again. He grinned and cupped her cheek.

"Yeah, I know. Do you think you can sleep?" he asked quietly and she shuffled over.

"If I can cuddle up with you, yeah" She grinned innocently up to him. He sighed and nodded, before sticking his head out the door, and telling a nurse –Emma thought the voice was Brian's- that he was taking a break and that this room was not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. Then he pulled off his shoes and gently hopped into the bed, smiling when she curled into him and sighed.

"Emma?" His voice was quiet, even in the silence.

"Yeah, Leo?" she was half asleep already and Leo was glad that perhaps she would be able to black the pain out.

"You look beautiful" Emma pulled back to look at him, her head tilting to the side slightly, and she looked so touched by his words that he couldn't help but kiss her. She smiled and cuddled back into him, listening to the beating of his heart and falling asleep to the lullaby of the certainty of his life.


End file.
